ter's books
to save the life of a sick bullock; and so miserly was he, that he would
not have given her two farthings over and above the allowance to which
she had a right, even if it had been a question of some indispensable
trifle for her education.

In 1802 the Abbe died, before the marriage of his dear child, a marriage
which he, doubtless, would never have advised. The old father found
his daughter a great care now that the Abbe was gone. The high-spirited
girl, with nothing else to do, was sure to break into rebellion against
his niggardliness, and he felt quite unequal to the struggle. Like all
young women who leave the appointed track of woman's life, Nais had her
own opinions about marriage, and had no great inclination thereto.
She shrank from submitting herself, body and soul, to the feeble,
undignified specimens of mankind whom she had chanced to meet. She
wished to rule, marriage meant obedience; and between obedience to
coarse caprices and a mind without indulgence for her tastes, and flight
with a lover who should please her, she would not have hesitated for a
moment.

M. de Negrepelisse maintained sufficient of the tradition of birth to
dread a _mesalliance_. Like many another parent, he resolved to marry
his daughter, not so much on her account as for his own peace of mind.
A noble or a country gentleman was the man for him, somebody not too
clever, incapable of haggling over the account of the trust; stupid
enough and easy enough to allow Nais to have her own way, and
disinterested enough to take her without a dowry. But where to look for
a son-in-law to suit father and daughter equally well, was the problem.
Such a man would be the phoenix of sons-in-law.

To M. de Negrepelisse pondering over the eligible bachelors of the
province with these double requirements in his mind. M. de Bargeton
seemed to be the only one who answered to this description. M. de
Bargeton, aged forty, considerably shattered by the amorous dissipations
of his youth, was generally held to be a man of remarkably feeble
intellect; but he had just the exact amount of commonsense required for
the management of his fortune, and breeding sufficient to enable him
to avoid blunders or blatant follies in society in Angouleme. In the
bluntest manner M. de Negrepelisse pointed out the negative virtues of
the model husband designed for his daughter, and made her see the way to
manage him so as to secure her own happiness. So Nais married