Grandet, on the advice of M. Cruchot, the notary, saved the honour of his dead brother.  There was no act of bankruptcy.  M. Cruchot, to gain favour with old Grandet, proposed to go to Paris to look after the dead man’s affairs, but suggested the payment of expenses.  It was M. des Grassins, however, who went to Paris, for he undertook to make no charge; and the banker not only attended to Guillaume Grandet’s creditors, but stayed on in Paris—­having been made a deputy—­and fell in love with an actress.  Adolphe joined his father, and achieved an equally unpleasant reputation.

The property of Guillaume Grandet realised enough money to pay the creditors a dividend of 47 per cent.  They agreed that they would deposit, upon certain conditions, their bills with an accredited notary, and each one said to himself that Grandet of Saumur would pay.

Grandet of Saumur, however, did not pay.  Endless delays were forthcoming, and Des Grassins was always holding out promises that were not fulfilled.

As years went by some of the creditors gave up all hope of payment, others died; till at the end of five years the deficit stood at 1,200,000 francs.

In the meantime, a terrible blow had fallen on Mine.  Grandet.  On January 1, 1820, old Grandet, according to his wont, presented his daughter with a gold coin, and asked to see her store of gold pieces.

All Eugenie would tell him was that her money was gone.  In vain the old man stormed.  Eugenie kept on saying:  “I am of age; the money was mine.”

Grandet raved at his wife, who, weary and ill, gave him no satisfaction.  In fact, Mine.  Grandet’s character had become stronger through her daughter’s trouble, and she refused to support her husband’s angry demands.

Then old Grandet ordered Eugenie to retire to her own apartment.  “Do you hear what I say?  Go!” he shouted.

Soon all the town knew that Eugenie was a prisoner in her own room, seeing no one but her mother and old Nanon; and public opinion, knowing nothing of the cause of the quarrel, blamed the old cooper.  For six months this state of things lasted, and Mine.  Grandet’s illness became steadily worse.  M. Cruchot, the notary, warned old Grandet that, in the event of his wife’s death, he would have to give an account to Eugenie of her mother’s share in the joint estate; and that Eugenie could then, if she chose, demand her mother’s fortune, to which she would be entitled.

This seriously alarmed the avaricious old cooper, and he made up his mind to a reconciliation, for his wife assured him she would never get better while Eugenie was treated so badly.  Eugenie and her mother were talking of Charles, from whom no letter had come, and getting what pleasure they could from looking at the portraits of his parents, when old Grandet burst into the room.  Catching sight of the gold fittings, he snatched up the dressing-case, and would have wrenched off the precious metal.  “Father, father,” Eugenie called out, “this case is not yours; it is not mine, it is a sacred trust!  It belongs to my unhappy cousin.  Do not pull it to pieces!”