elongs
to me now.'

"A sudden blow on the head from a bludgeon would have given me less pain
and astonishment. The Countess saw the look of hesitation in my face.

"'Monsieur,' she cried, 'Monsieur!' She could find no other words.

"'You are a trustee, are you not?' I asked.

"'That is possible.'

"'Then do you mean to take advantage of this crime of hers?'

"'Precisely.'

"I went at that, leaving the Countess sitting by her husband's bedside,
shedding hot tears. Gobseck followed me. Outside in the street I
separated from him, but he came after me, flung me one of those
searching glances with which he probed men's minds, and said in the
husky flute-tones, pitched in a shriller key:

"'Do you take it upon yourself to judge me?'"

"From that time forward we saw little of each other. Gobseck let the
Count's mansion on lease; he spent the summers on the country estates.
He was a lord of the manor in earnest, putting up farm buildings,
repairing mills and roadways, and planting timber. I came across him one
day in a walk in the Jardin des Tuileries.

"'The Countess is behaving like a heroine,' said I; 'she gives herself
up entirely to the children's education; she is giving them a perfect
bringing up. The oldest boy is a charming young fellow----'

"'That is possible.'

"'But ought you not to help Ernest?' I suggested.

"'Help him!' cried Gobseck. 'Not I. Adversity is the greatest of all
teachers; adversity teaches us to know the value of money and the worth
of men and women. Let him set sail on the seas of Paris; when he is a
qualified pilot, we will give him a ship to steer.'

"I left him without seeking to explain the meaning of his words.

"M. de Restaud's mother has prejudiced him against me, and he is very
far from taking me as his legal adviser; still, I went to see Gobseck
last week to tell him about Ernest's love for Mlle. Camille, and pressed
him to carry out his contract, since that young Restaud is just of age.

"I found the old bill-discounter had been kept to his bed for a long
time by the complaint of which he was to die. He put me off, saying that
he would give the matter his attention when he could get up again and
see after his business; his idea being no doubt that he would not give
up any of his possessions so long as the breath was in him; no other
reason could be found for his shuffling answer. He seemed to me to be
much worse than he at all suspected. I stayed with him long enough