an eye that was almost kind; he
brooded over her as though she had been gold. The old man was so unlike
himself, he trembled so often before his daughter, that Nanon and the
Cruchotines, who witnessed his weakness, attributed it to his great age,
and feared that his faculties were giving away. But the day on which
the family put on their mourning, and after dinner, to which meal Maitre
Cruchot (the only person who knew his secret) had been invited, the
conduct of the old miser was explained.

"My dear child," he said to Eugenie when the table had been cleared and
the doors carefully shut, "you are now your mother's heiress, and we
have a few little matters to settle between us. Isn't that so, Cruchot?"

"Yes."

"Is it necessary to talk of them to-day, father?"

"Yes, yes, little one; I can't bear the uncertainty in which I'm placed.
I think you don't want to give me pain?"

"Oh! father--"

"Well, then! let us settle it all to-night."

"What is it you wish me to do?"

"My little girl, it is not for me to say. Tell her, Cruchot."

"Mademoiselle, your father does not wish to divide the property, nor
sell the estate, nor pay enormous taxes on the ready money which he may
possess. Therefore, to avoid all this, he must be released from making
the inventory of his whole fortune, part of which you inherit from your
mother, and which is now undivided between you and your father--"

"Cruchot, are you quite sure of what you are saying before you tell it
to a mere child?"

"Let me tell it my own way, Grandet."

"Yes, yes, my friend. Neither you nor my daughter wish to rob me,--do
you, little one?"

"But, Monsieur Cruchot, what am I to do?" said Eugenie impatiently.

"Well," said the notary, "it is necessary to sign this deed, by which
you renounce your rights to your mother's estate and leave your father
the use and disposition, during his lifetime, of all the property
undivided between you, of which he guarantees you the capital."

"I do not understand a word of what you are saying," returned Eugenie;
"give me the deed, and show me where I am to sign it."

Pere Grandet looked alternately at the deed and at his daughter, at his
daughter and at the deed, undergoing as he did so such violent emotion
that he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"My little girl," he said, "if, instead of signing this deed, which will
cost a great deal to record, you would simply agree to renounce your
rights as heir to your poor dear, d