The old mother, noticing that Graslin's miserliness, which returned
upon him, might hamper her daughter, was for some time unwilling to
resign the property left to her by her husband. But Veronique, unable
to imagine a case in which a woman might desire the use of her own
property, urged it upon her mother with reasons of great generosity,
and out of gratitude to Graslin for restoring to her the liberty and
freedom of a young girl. But this is anticipating.

The unusual splendor which accompanied Graslin's marriage had
disturbed all his habits and constantly annoyed him. The mind of the
great financier was a very small one. Veronique had had no means of
judging the man with whom she was to pass her life. During his
fifty-five visits he had let her see nothing but the business man, the
indefatigable worker, who conceived and sustained great enterprises,
and analyzed public affairs, bringing them always to the crucial test
of the Bank. Fascinated by the million offered to him by Sauviat, he
showed himself generous by calculation. Carried away by the interests
of his marriage and by what he called his "folly," namely, the house
which still goes by the name of the hotel Graslin, he did things on a
large scale. Having bought horses, a caleche, and a coupe, he
naturally used them to return the wedding visits and go to those
dinners and balls, called the "retours de noces," which the heads of
the administration and the rich families of Limoges gave to the newly
married pair. Under this impulsion, which carried him entirely out of
his natural sphere, Graslin sent to Paris for a man-cook and took a
reception day. For a year he kept the pace of a man who possesses a
fortune of sixteen hundred thousand francs, and he became of course
the most noted personage in Limoges. During this year he generously
put into his wife's purse every month twenty-five gold pieces of
twenty francs each.