The barber appeared to listen to Urbain without being in the least moved by his prayers, when the young bachelor added,—
"I know, monsieur, all that you have done for Blanche. Her father was assassinated, she remained an orphan without any support. She owes everything to you."
"What?" said Touquet, who had paid more attention to Urbain's last words, "you know—"
"Yes, monsieur, I learned all that concerns her whom I adore. She did not know her parents and possessed no fortune, but it is she alone whom I ask of you. You have done well for her. Give me Blanche; she is sufficient for my happiness. I also am an orphan; my family was honest and respectable, but I have no relations left. My name is Urbain Dorgeville; I have an income of twelve hundred livres; that is very little, but I possess besides a little house in the country, on the borders of the Loire, there I shall go to live with Blanche. Far from the tumult of the city, which we shall not regret, nor its pleasures; and far from society, which we do not wish to know, we shall there pass our days in peace and love and happiness."
The barber appeared to reflect deeply. He rose, and strolled about the room with bowed head. Hope and fear were depicted in the looks of the two lovers, who waited with impatience his answer. Finally, he paused, and said to Urbain,—
"You are an orphan? Entirely master of your own actions?"
"Yes, monsieur."
"There is nobody to object to your marrying an orphan without means, and whose family is unknown?"
"Nobody, I repeat to you, can oppose my wishes."
"You will never seek, yourself, to obtain any information in regard to Blanche's family, which, besides, would prove entirely fruitless."