looked for in the man who was to be my husband. M. d'Espard was then
six-and-twenty; he was a gentleman in the English sense of the word;

his manners pleased me, he seemed to have plenty of ambition, and I
like ambitious people," she added, looking at Rastignac. "If M.

d'Espard had never met that Madame Jeanrenaud, his character, his
learning, his acquirements would have raised him--as his friends then

believed--to high office in the Government. King Charles X., at that
time Monsieur, had the greatest esteem for him, and a peer's seat, an

appointment at Court, some important post certainly would have been
his. That woman turned his head, and has ruined all the prospects of

my family."
"What were M. d'Espard's religious opinions at that time?"

"He was, and is still, a very pious man."
"You do not suppose that Madame Jeanrenaud may have influenced him by

mysticism?"
"No, monsieur."

"You have a very fine house, madame," said Popinot suddenly, taking
his hands out of his pockets, and rising to pick up his coat-tails and

warm himself. "This boudoir is very nice, those chairs are
magnificent, the whole apartment is sumptuous. You must indeed be most

unhappy when, seeing yourself here, you know that your children are
ill lodged, ill clothed, and ill fed. I can imagine nothing more

terrible for a mother."
"Yes, indeed. I should be so glad to give the poor little fellows some

amusement, while their father keeps them at work from morning till
night at that wretched history of China."

"You give handsome balls; they would enjoy them, but they might
acquire a taste for dissipation. However, their father might send them

to you once or twice in the course of the winter."
"He brings them here on my birthday and on New Year's Day. On those

days M. d'Espard does me the favor of dining here with them."
"It is very singular behaviour," said the judge, with an air of

conviction. "Have you ever seen this Dame Jeanrenaud?"
"My brother-in-law one day, out of interest in his brother----"

"Ah! monsieur is M. d'Espard's brother?" said the lawyer, interrupting
her.

The Chevalier bowed, but did not speak.
"M. d'Espard, who has watched this affair, took me to the Oratoire,

where this woman goes to sermon, for she is a Protestant. I saw her;
she is not in the least attractive; she looks like a butcher's wife,

extremely fat, horribly marked with the smallpox; she has feet and
hands like a man's, she squints, in short, she is monstrous!"

"It is inconceivable," said the judge, looking like the most imbecile
judge in the whole kingdom. "And this creature lives near here, Rue

Verte, in a fine house? There are no plain folk left, it would seem?"
"In a mansion on which her son has spent absurd sums."

"Madame," said Popinot, "I live in the Faubourg Saint-Marceau; I know
nothing of such expenses. What do you call absurd sums?"

"Well," said the Marquise, "a stable with five horses and three
carriages, a phaeton, a brougham, and a cabriolet."

"That costs a large sum, then?" asked Popinot in surprise.
"Enormous sums!" said Rastignac, intervening. "Such an establishment

would cost, for the stables, the keeping the carriages in order, and
the liveries for the men, between fifteen and sixteen thousand francs

a year."
"Should you think so, madame?" said the judge, looking much

astonished.
"Yes, at least," replied the Marquise.

"And the furniture, too, must have cost a lot of money?"
"More than a hundred thousand francs," replied Madame d'Espard, who

could not help smiling at the lawyer's vulgarity.
"Judges, madame, are apt to be incredulous; it is what they are paid

for, and I am incredulous. The Baron Jeanrenaud and his mother must
have fleeced M. d'Espard most preposterously, if what you say is

correct. There is a stableestablishment which, by your account, costs
sixteen thousand francs a year. Housekeeping, servants' wages, and the

gross expenses of the house itself must run to twice as much; that
makes a total of from fifty to sixty thousand francs a year. Do you

suppose that these people, formerly so extremely poor, can have so
large a fortune? A million yields scarcely forty thousand a year."

"Monsieur, the mother and son invested the money given them by M.
d'Espard in the funds when they were at 60 to 80. I should think their

income must be more than sixty thousand francs. And then the son has
fine appointments."

"If they spend sixty thousand francs a year," said the judge, "how
much do you spend?"

"Well," said Madame d'Espard, "about the same." The Chevalier started
a little, the Marquise colored; Bianchon looked at Rastignac; but

Popinot preserved an expression of simplicity which quite deceived
Madame d'Espard. The chevalier took no part in the conversation; he

saw that all was lost.
"These people, madame, might be indicted before the superior Court,"

said Popinot.
"That was my opinion," exclaimed the Marquise, enchanted. "If

threatened with the police, they would have come to terms."
"Madame," said Popinot, "when M. d'Espard left you, did he not give

you a power of attorney enabling you to manage and control your own
affairs?"

"I do not understand the object of all these questions," said the
Marquise with petulance. "It seems to me that if you would only

consider the state in which I am placed by my husband's insanity, you
ought to be troubling yourself about him, and not about me."

"We are coming to that, madame," said the judge. "Before placing in
your hands, or in any others, the control of M. d'Espard's property,

supposing he were pronouncedincapable, the Court must inquire as to
how you have managed your own. If M. d'Espard gave you the power, he

would have shown confidence in you, and the Court would recognize the
fact. Had you any power from him? You might have bought or sold house

property or invested money in business?"
"No, monsieur, the Blamont-Chauvrys are not in the habit of trading,"

said she, extremely nettled in her pride as an aristocrat, and
forgetting the business in hand. "My property is intact, and M.

d'Espard gave me no power to act."
The Chevalier put his hand over his eyes not to betray the vexation he

felt at his sister-in-law's short-sightedness, for she was ruining
herself by her answers. Popinot had gone straight to the mark in spite

of his apparent doublings.
"Madame," said the lawyer, indicating the Chevalier, "this gentleman,

of course, is your near connection? May we speak openly before these
other gentlemen?"

"Speak on," said the Marquise, surprised at this caution.
"Well, madame, granting that you spend only sixty thousand francs a

year, to any one who sees your stables, your house, your train of
servants, and a style of housekeeping which strikes me as far more

luxurious than that of the Jeanrenauds, that sum would seem well laid
out."

The Marquise bowed an agreement.
"But," continued the judge, "if you have no more than twenty-six

thousand francs a year, you may have a hundred thousand francs of
debt. The Court would therefore have a right to imagine that the

motives which prompt you to ask that your husband may be deprived of
the control of his property are complicated by self-interest and the

need of paying your debts--if--you--have--any. The requests addressed
to me have interested me in your position; consider fully and make

your confession. If my suppositions have hit the truth, there is yet
time to avoid the blame which the Court would have a perfect right to

express in the saving clauses of the verdict if you could not show
your attitude to be absolutely honorable and clear.

"It is our duty to examine the motives of the applicant as well as to
listen to the plea of the witness under examination, to ascertain