in the position in which you are, would suit you better than your own
wife, and make you happier. I propose going this very day to see the
Comtesse Ferraud and sounding the ground; but I would not take such a
step without giving you due notice."

"Let us go together."

"What, just as you are?" said the lawyer. "No, my dear Colonel, no.
You might lose your case on the spot."

"Can I possibly gain it?"

"On every count," replied Derville. "But, my dear Colonel Chabert, you
overlook one thing. I am not rich; the price of my connection is not
wholly paid up. If the bench should allow you a maintenance, that is
to say, a sum advanced on your prospects, they will not do so till you
have proved that you are Comte Chabert, grand officer of the Legion of
Honor."

"To be sure, I am a grand officer of the Legion of Honor; I had
forgotten that," said he simply.

"Well, until then," Derville went on, "will you not have to engage
pleaders, to have documents copied, to keep the underlings of the law
going, and to support yourself? The expenses of the preliminary
inquiries will, at a rough guess, amount to ten or twelve thousand
francs. I have not so much to lend you--I am crushed as it is by the
enormous interest I have to pay on the money I borrowed to buy my
business; and you?--Where can you find it."