see Monsieur Charnot without reflecting whether you were not bringing
trouble into his household; without reflecting, further, whether such
conduct as yours, which may perhaps be usual among your business
acquaintances, was likely to succeed with me. Perhaps you thought it
would. You have merely completed an experiment, begun long ago, which
proves that we do not understand life in the same way, and that it will
be better for both of us if I continue to live in Paris, and you continue
to live at Bourges."

"Ha! that's how you take it, young man, is it? You refuse to come? you
try to bully me?"

"Yes."

"Consider carefully before you let me leave here alone. You know the
amount of your fortune--fourteen hundred francs a year, which means
poverty in Paris."

"Yes, I do."

"Well, then, attend to what I am about to say. For years past I have
been saving my practice for you--that is, an honorable and lucrative
position all ready for you to step into. But I am tired at length of
your fads and your fancies. If you do not take up your quarters at
Bourges within a fortnight from now, the Mouillard practice will change
its name within three weeks!" My uncle sniffed with emotion as he looked
at me, expecting to see me totter beneath his threats. I made no answer
for a moment; but a thought which had been harassing me from the
beginning of our interview compelled me to say: