"Who is he?"
"The Mayor of Bottitort."
"The creditor?"
"Yes."
"And how much is owing?" I asked.
"Nothing, she says."
"But how much does he say?"
"Twenty crowns."
Doubtless some will view my conduct on this occasion with
surprise; and wonder why I troubled myself with inquiries so
minute upon a matter so mean. But these do not consider that
ministers are the King's eyes; and that in a State no class is so
unimportant that it can be safely overlooked. Moreover, as the
settlement of the finances was one of the objects of my stay in
those parts--and I seldom had the opportunity of checking the
statements made to me by the farmers and lessees of the taxes,
the receivers, gatherers, and, in a word, all the corrupt class
that imparts such views of a province as suit its interests--I
was glad to learn anything that threw light on the real condition
of the country: the more, as I had to receive at Vitre a
deputation of the notables and officials of the district.
Accordingly, I continued to put questions to her until, crossing
a ridge, we came at last within sight of the inn, a lonely house
of stone, standing in the hollow of the moor and sheltered on one
side by a few gnarled trees that took off in a degree from the
bleakness of its aspect.
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