aughter alternately for
an instant. Madame Grandet fainted.

"There! don't you see, monsieur, that madame is dying?" cried Nanon.

"Come, come, my daughter, we won't quarrel for a box! Here, take it!"
he cried hastily, flinging the case upon the bed. "Nanon, go and fetch
Monsieur Bergerin! Come, mother," said he, kissing his wife's hand,
"it's all over! There! we've made up--haven't we, little one? No more
dry bread; you shall have all you want--Ah, she opens her eyes! Well,
mother, little mother, come! See, I'm kissing Eugenie! She loves her
cousin, and she may marry him if she wants to; she may keep his case.
But don't die, mother; live a long time yet, my poor wife! Come, try
to move! Listen! you shall have the finest altar that ever was made in
Saumur."

"Oh, how can you treat your wife and daughter so!" said Madame Grandet
in a feeble voice.

"I won't do so again, never again," cried her husband; "you shall see,
my poor wife!" He went to his inner room and returned with a handful
of louis, which he scattered on the bed. "Here, Eugenie! see, wife! all
these are for you," he said, fingering the coins. "Come, be happy,
wife! feel better, get well; you sha'n't want for anything, nor Eugenie
either. Here's a hundred _louis d'or_ for her. You won't give these
away, will you, Eugenie, hein?"

Madame Grandet and her daughter looked at each other in astonishment.

"Take back your money, father; we ask for nothing but your affection."

"Well, well, that's right!" he said, pocketing the coins; "let's be good
friends! We will all go down to dinner to-day, and we'll play loto every
evening for two sous. You shall both be happy. Hey, wife?"

"Alas! I wish I could, if it would give you pleasure," said the dying
woman; "but I cannot rise from my bed."

"Poor mother," said Grandet, "you don't know how I love you! and you
too, my daughter!" He took her in his arms and kissed her. "Oh, how
good it is to kiss a daughter when we have been angry with her! There,
mother, don't you see it's all over now? Go and put that away, Eugenie,"
he added, pointing to the case. "Go, don't be afraid! I shall never
speak of it again, never!"

Monsieur Bergerin, the celebrated doctor of Saumur, presently arrived.
After an examination, he told Grandet positively that his wife was very
ill; but that perfect peace of mind, a generous diet, and great care
might prolong her life until the autumn.

"Will all that cost much?" said the old man. "W