e end
of their property and be as naked as the little Saint John; and then, as
they can't do without luxury, they will prey upon their friends without
compunction. Charity begins at home. He is intimate with that little
scamp du Tillet, our former clerk; and I see nothing good in that
friendship. If he doesn't know how to judge du Tillet he must be blind;
and if he does know him, why does he pet him? You'll tell me, because
his wife is fond of du Tillet. Well, I don't look for any good in a man
who has no honor with respect to his wife. Besides, the present owners
of that land must be fools to sell for a hundred sous what is worth
a hundred francs. If you met a child who did not know the value of a
louis, wouldn't you feel bound to tell him of it? Your affair looks to
me like a theft, be it said without offence."

"Good God! how queer women are sometimes, and how they mix up ideas!
If Roguin were not in this business, you would say to me: 'Look here,
Cesar, you are going into a thing without Roguin; therefore it is worth
nothing.' But to-day he is in it, as security, and you tell me--"

"No, that is a Monsieur Claparon."

"But a notary cannot put his own name into a speculation."

"Then why is he doing a thing forbidden by law? How do you answer that,
you who are guided by law?"

"Let me go on. Roguin is in it, and you tell me the business is
worthless. Is that reasonable? You say, 'He is acting against the law.'
But he would put himself openly in the business if it were necessary.
Can't they say the same of me? Would Ragon and Pillerault come and say
to me: 'Why do you have to do with this affair,--you who have made your
money as a merchant?'"

"Merchants are not in the same position as notaries," said Madame
Birotteau.

"Well, my conscience is clear," said Cesar, continuing; "the people who
sell, sell because they must; we do not steal from them any more than
you steal from others when you buy their stocks at seventy-five. We buy
the ground to-day at to-day's price. In two years it will be another
thing; just so with stocks. Know then, Constance-Barbe-Josephine
Pillerault, that you will never catch Cesar Birotteau doing anything
against the most rigid honor, nor against the laws, nor against his
conscience, nor against delicacy. A man established and known for
eighteen years, to be suspected in his own household of dishonesty!"

"Come, be calm, Cesar! A woman who has lived with you all that time
knows down t