What wouldn't he give to
have the delicious pleasure of saying, Monsieur the Count, my
son-in-law; or my daughter, Madame the Countess Hector! And you
aren't ruined, you know, you are going to have an income of twenty
thousand francs, and perhaps enough more to raise your capital to a
million."
Hector was silent. He had thought his life ended, and now, all of
a sudden, a splendid perspective unrolled itself before him. He
might then rid himself of the patronizing protection of his friend;
he would be free, rich, would have a better wife, as he thought,
than Bertha; his house would outshine Sauvresy's. The thought of
Bertha crossed his mind, and it occurred to him that he, might thus
escape a lover who although beautiful and loving, was proud and bold,
and whose domineering temper began to be burdensome to him.
"I may say," said he, seriously to his friend, "that I have always
thought Monsieur Courtois an excellent and honorable man, and
Mademoiselle Laurence seems to me so accomplished a young lady, that
a man might be happy in marrying her even without a dowry."
"So much the better, my dear Hector, so much the better.
Pages:
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284