Paul.
"Madame can, therefore, live with you wherever you are. A widow with
twenty thousand francs a year, and no household to maintain, is richer
than madame was when she possessed her whole fortune. Madame Evangelista
has only this one daughter; Monsieur le comte is without relations; it
will be many years before your heirs attain their majority; no conflict
of interests is, therefore, to be feared. A mother-in-law and a
son-in-law placed in such relations will form a household of united
interests. Madame Evangelista can make up for the remaining deficit by
paying a certain sum for her support from her annuity, which will ease
your way. We know that madame is too generous and too large-minded to
be willing to be a burden on her children. In this way you can make one
household, united and happy, and be able to spend, in your own right,
one hundred thousand francs a year. Is not that sum sufficient, Monsieur
le comte, to enjoy, in all countries, the luxuries of life, and to
satisfy all your wants and caprices? Believe me, a young couple often
feel the need of a third member of the household; and, I ask you, what
third member could be so desirable as a good mother?"

"A little paradise!" exclaimed the old notary.

Shocked to see his client's joy at this proposal, Mathias sat down on
an ottoman, his head in his hands, plunged in reflections that were
evidently painful. He knew well the involved phraseology in which
notaries and lawyers wrap up, intentionally, malicious schemes, and he
was not the man to be taken in by it. He now began, furtively, to watch
his brother notary and Madame Evangelista as they conversed with
Paul, endeavoring to detect some clew to the deep-laid plot which was
beginning to appear upon the surface.

"Monsieur," said Paul to Solonet, "I thank you for the pains you take to
conciliate our interests. This arrangement will solve all difficulties
far more happily than I expected--if," he added, turning to Madame
Evangelista, "it is agreeable to you, madame; for I could not desire
anything that did not equally please you."

"I?" she said; "all that makes the happiness of my children is joy to
me. Do not consider me in any way."

"That would not be right," said Paul, eagerly. "If your future is not
honorably provided for, Natalie and I would suffer more than you would
suffer for yourself."

"Don't be uneasy, Monsieur le comte," interposed Solonet.

"Ah!" thought old Mathias, "they'll make him kis