Josephine assented with perfect simplicity; Rose with a deep blush, for
she was too quick not to see all the consequences of admitting so brisk
a wooer into a family council.


It was a wet evening, and a sad and silent party sat round a wood fire
in the great dining-hall. The baroness was almost prostrated by the
scene with Perrin; and a sombre melancholy and foreboding weighed on
all their spirits, when presently Edouard Riviere entered briskly, and
saluted them all profoundly, and opened the proceedings with a little
favorite pomposity. "Madame the baroness, and you Monsieur Aubertin, who
honor me with your esteem, and you Mademoiselle de Beaurepaire, whom I
adore, and you Mademoiselle Rose, whom I hoped to be permitted--you have
this day done me the honor to admit me as your adviser. I am here to
lay my plans before you. I believe, madame, I have already convinced
you that your farms are under-let, and your property lowered in value by
general mismanagement; this was doubtless known to Perrin, and set him
scheming. Well, I rely on the same circumstance to defeat him. I have
consulted Picard and shown him the rent-roll and balance-sheet I had
already shown you. He has confessed that the estate is worth more
than its debts, so capitalists can safely advance the money. To-morrow
morning, then, I ride to Commandant Raynal for a week's leave of
absence; then, armed with Picard's certificate, shall proceed to my
uncle and ask him to lend the money. His estate is very small compared
with Beaurepaire, but he has always farmed it himself. 'I'll have no
go-between,' says he, 'to impoverish both self and soil.' He is also a
bit of a misanthrope, and has made me one. I have a very poor opinion of
my fellow-creatures, very."