I do
not approve, I tell you plainly he must not reckon on my assistance.
Upright and downright, such has always been my line of conduct."

"And mine, also! Therefore it is that I am always saying to my husband
what you now say to me, 'Your daughter has behaved very ill to you, that
is but too true; but that is no reason why you should disinherit her.'"

"Very good,--quite right! And what answer does he make to that?"

"He replies, 'I shall leave my daughter twenty-five thousand livres of
annual income (1,000_l._); she had more than a million (40,000_l._) from
her mother. Her husband has an enormous fortune of his own; and,
therefore, why should I not leave you the residue of my fortune,--you,
my tender love, the sole support, the only comfort of my declining
years, my guardian angel?' I repeat these very flattering words to you,"
said Madame d'Orbigny, with an air of modesty, "to prove to you how kind
M. d'Orbigny is to me. But, in spite of that, I have always refused his
offers; and, as he perceives that, he has compelled me to come and seek
you."

"But I do not know M. d'Orbigny."

"But he, like all the world, knows your high character."

"But why should he send you to me?"

"To put an end to all my scruples and refusals, he said to me, 'I will
not ask you to consult my notary, because you will think him too much
devoted to my service; but I will trust myself entirely to the decision
of a man of whose extreme probity of character I have heard you so
frequently speak in praise,--M. Jacques Ferrand. If he considers your
delicacy compromised by your consent to my wishes, we will not say
another word on the subject; otherwise, you must comply without a word.'
'I consent!' I replied to M. d'Orbigny. And so now you are the
arbitrator between us. 'If M. Ferrand approves,' added my husband, 'I
will send him ample power to realise in my name my rents and
investments, and he shall keep the proceeds in his hands as a deposit;
and thus, after my decease, my tender love, you will at least have an
existence worthy of you.'"

Perhaps M. Ferrand never had greater need of his spectacles than at this
moment; for, had he not worn them, Madame d'Orbigny would doubtless have
been struck with the sparkle of the notary's eyes, which seemed to dart
fire when the word deposit was pronounced. However, he replied, in his
usual coarse way:

"It is very tiresome. This is the tenth or twelfth time that I have been
made the arbitrator