"I have been thinking, my poor child, that if you had confided your
secret to me we should have had time to write to Monsieur des Grassins
in Paris. He might have sent us gold pieces like yours; though Grandet
knows them all, perhaps--"
"Where could we have got the money?"
"I would have pledged my own property. Besides, Monsieur des Grassins
would have--"
"It is too late," said Eugenie in a broken, hollow voice. "To-morrow
morning we must go and wish him a happy New Year in his chamber."
"But, my daughter, why should I not consult the Cruchots?"
"No, no; it would be delivering me up to them, and putting ourselves
in their power. Besides, I have chosen my course. I have done right, I
repent of nothing. God will protect me. His will be done! Ah! mother,
if you had read his letter, you, too, would have thought only of him."
The next morning, January 1, 1820, the horrible fear to which mother
and daughter were a prey suggested to their minds a natural excuse by
which to escape the solemn entrance into Grandet's chamber. The winter
of 1819-1820 was one of the coldest of that epoch. The snow encumbered
the roofs.
Madame Grandet called to her husband as soon as she heard him stirring
in his chamber, and said,--
"Grandet, will you let Nanon light a fire here for me? The cold is so
sharp that I am freezing under the bedclothes. At my age I need some
comforts. Besides," she added, after a slight pause, "Eugenie shall
come and dress here; the poor child might get an illness from dressing
in her cold room in such weather.
Pages:
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185