with pleasure, not stopping to count the rolls of
notes she would eagerly run to bring him. But as he each time increased
his demands, until they finally reached a sum far larger than she
could bestow, her eyes were opened to the ruinous effects of her lavish
generosity.

This rich woman, whose magnificent diamonds, elegant toilets, and
superb equipages were the admiration and envy of Paris, now suffered
the keenest torture. She had no more money to give her son; and what
so pains the female heart as being unable to gratify the wishes of a
beloved being?

Her husband never thought of giving her a fixed sum for the year's
expenses, or of asking how she disposed of her money. The day after the
wedding he gave her a key to his secretary, and told her, that what was
his was hers, to use as she thought best. And, ever since, she had been
in the habit of freely taking all the money necessary for keeping up the
hospitable, elegant house over which she so gracefully presided; for her
own dress, and many charitable purposes that the world never knew of.

But the fact of her having always been so modest in her personal
expenses that her husband used to jestingly say that he was afraid she
would end by being a miser; and her judicious, well-regulated management
of household expenditures, causing her to spend much the same amount
each year--prevented her now being able to dispose of large sums,
without giving rise to embarrassing questions.

M. Fauvel, the most generous of millionaires, delighted to see his
wife indulge in any extravagance, no matter how foolish; but he would
naturally expect to see traces of the money spent, something to show for
it.

The banker might suddenly discover that double the usual amount of
money was used in the house; and, if he should ask the cause of this
astonishing outlay, what answer could she give?

In three months, Raoul had squandered a little fortune. In the first
place, he was obliged to have bachelor's apartments, prettily furnished,
and a handsome outfit from a fashionable tailor, besides the thousand
little things indispensable to a society man; he must have a blooded
horse and a coupe. His doting mother felt it her duty to give him these
luxuries, when her other sons were enjoying everything of the sort,
besides many other advantages of which her poor Raoul was deprived.
But each day the extravagance of his fancies increased, and Mme. Fauvel
began to be alarmed when his demands far