--I will see to settling
you comfortably. The Duke does the handsome; he will lend--that is,
give--you ten thousand francs; and he deposits eight thousand with his
notary, who will pay you six hundred francs every quarter, for I
cannot trust you.--Now, am I nice?"
"Adorable."
Ten days after deserting his family, when they were gathered round
Adeline, who seemed to be dying, as she said again and again, in a
weak voice, "Where is he?" Hector, under the name of Thoul, was
established in the Rue Saint-Maur, at the head of a business as
embroiderer, under the name of Thoul and Bijou.
Victorin Hulot, under the overwhelming disasters of his family, had
received the finishing touch which makes or mars the man. He was
perfection. In the great storms of life we act like the captain of a
ship who, under the stress of a hurricane, lightens the ship of its
heaviest cargo. The young lawyer lost his self-conscious pride, his
too evident assertiveness, his arrogance as an orator and his
political pretensions. He was as a man what his wife was as a woman.
He made up his mind to make the best of his Celestine--who certainly
did not realize his dreams--and was wise enough to estimate life at
its true value by contenting himself in all things with the second
best. He vowed to fulfil his duties, so much had he been shocked by
his father's example.
These feelings were confirmed as he stood by his mother's bed on the
day when she was out of danger.
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