Adolphe had been to see his relation Gaubertin three times in three years.  A few words exchanged between them let Gaubertin see the muck of a soul ready to ferment under the hot temptations of legal robbery.  He warily sounded a nature that could be warped to the exigencies of any plan, provided it was profitable.  At each of the three visits Sibilet grumbled at his fate.

“Employ me, cousin,” he said; “take me as a clerk and make me your successor.  You shall see how I work.  I am capable of overthrowing mountains to give my Adeline, I won’t say luxury, but a modest competence.  You made Monsieur Leclercq’s fortune; why won’t you put me in a bank in Paris?”

“Some day, later on, I’ll find you a place,” Gaubertin would say; “meantime make friends and acquaintance; such things help.”

Under these circumstances the letter which Madame Soudry hastily dispatched brought Sibilet to Soulanges through a region of castles in the air.  His father-in-law, Sarcus, whom the Soudrys advised to take steps in the interest of his daughter, had gone in the morning to see the general and to propose Adolphe for the vacant post.  By advice of Madame Soudry, who was the oracle of the little town, the worthy man had taken his daughter with him; and the sight of her had had a favorable effect upon the Comte de Montcornet.

“I shall not decide,” he answered, “without thoroughly informing myself about all applicants; but I will not look elsewhere until I have examined whether or not your son-in-law possesses the requirements for the place.”  Then, turning to Madame Sibilet he added, “The satisfaction of settling so charming a person at Les Aigues—­”

“The mother of two children, general,” said Adeline, adroitly, to evade the gallantry of the old cuirassier.

All the general’s inquiries were cleverly anticipated by the Soudrys, Gaubertin, and Lupin, who quietly obtained for their candidate the influence of the leading lawyers in the capital of the department, where a royal court held sessions,—­such as Counsellor Gendrin, a distant relative of the judge at Ville-aux-Fayes; Baron Bourlac, attorney-general; and another counsellor named Sarcus, a cousin thrice removed of the candidate.  The verdict of every one to whom the general applies was favorable to the poor clerk,—­“so interesting,” as they called him.  His marriage had made Sibilet as irreproachable as a novel of Miss Edgeworth’s, and presented him, moreover, in the light of a disinterested man.

The time which the dismissed steward remained at Les Aigues until his successor could be appointed was employed in creating troubles and annoyances for his late master; one of the little scenes which he thus played off will give an idea of several others.

The morning of his final departure he contrived to meet, as it were accidentally, Courtecuisse, the only keeper then employed at Les Aigues, the great extent of which really needed at least three.