l cupidity, both insolent and
shrinking; in cultivated minds it fosters anti-social doctrines, which
serve a man as footholds by which to rise above his superiors. May we
not dignify with the title of proverb the pregnant saying, "Tell me what
thou hast, and I will tell thee of what thou art thinking"?

Though Adolphe loved his wife, his hourly thought was: "I have made
a mistake; I have three balls and chains, but I have only two legs. I
ought to have made my fortune before I married. I could have found an
Adeline any day; but Adeline stands in the way of my getting a fortune
now."

Adolphe had been to see his relation Gaubertin three times in three
years. A few words exchanged between them let Gaubertin see the muck of
a soul ready to ferment under the hot temptations of legal robbery. He
warily sounded a nature that could be warped to the exigencies of any
plan, provided it was profitable. At each of the three visits Sibilet
grumbled at his fate.

"Employ me, cousin," he said; "take me as a clerk and make me your
successor. You shall see how I work. I am capable of overthrowing
mountains to give my Adeline, I won't say luxury, but a modest
competence. You made Monsieur Leclercq's fortune; why won't you put me
in a bank in Paris?"

"Some day, later on, I'll find you a place," Gaubertin would say;
"meantime make friends and acquaintance; such things help."

Under these circumstances the letter which Madame Soudry hastily
dispatched brought Sibilet to Soulanges through a region of castles in
the air. His father-in-law, Sarcus, whom the Soudrys advised to take
steps in the interest of his daughter, had gone in the morning to see
the general and to propose Adolphe for the vacant post. By advice of
Madame Soudry, who was the oracle of the little town, the worthy man had
taken his daughter with him; and the sight of her had had a favorable
effect upon the Comte de Montcornet.

"I shall not decide," he answered, "without thoroughly informing
myself about all applicants; but I will not look elsewhere until I have
examined whether or not your son-in-law possesses the requirements for
the place." Then, turning to Madame Sibilet he added, "The satisfaction
of settling so charming a person at Les Aigues--"

"The mother of two children, general," said Adeline, adroitly, to evade
the gallantry of the old cuirassier.

All the general's inquiries were cleverly anticipated by the Soudrys,
Gaubertin, and Lupin, who quietly ob