“Well, then,” said Mathias, “is not this marriage the proper occasion on which to entail the estate and create the family?  Such a course would, undoubtedly, militate in the mind of the present government in favor of the nomination of my client whenever a batch of appointments is sent in.  Monsieur le comte can very well afford to devote the estate of Lanstrac (which is worth a million) to this purpose.  I do not ask that mademoiselle should contribute an equal sum; that would not be just.  But we can surely apply eight hundred thousand of her patrimony to this object.  There are two domains adjoining Lanstrac now to be sold, which can be purchased for that sum, which will return in rentals four and a half per cent.  The house in Paris should be included in the entail.  The surplus of the two fortunes, if judiciously managed, will amply suffice for the fortunes of the younger children.  If the contracting parties will agree to this arrangement, Monsieur ought certainly to accept your guardianship account with its deficiency.  I consent to that.”

“Questa coda non e di questo gatto (That tail doesn’t belong to that cat),” murmured Madame Evangelista, appealing to Solonet.

“There’s a snake in the grass somewhere,” answered Solonet, in a low voice, replying to the Italian proverb with a French one.

“Why do you make this fuss?” asked Paul, leading Mathias into the adjoining salon.

“To save you from being ruined,” replied the old notary, in a whisper.  “You are determined to marry a girl and her mother who have already squandered two millions in seven years; you are pledging yourself to a debt of eleven hundred thousand francs to your children, to whom you will have to account for the fortune you are acknowledging to have received with their mother.  You risk having your own fortune squandered in five years, and to be left as naked as Saint-John himself, besides being a debtor to your wife and children for enormous sums.  If you are determined to put your life in that boat, Monsieur le comte, of course you can do as you choose; but at least let me, your old friend, try to save the house of Manerville.”

“How is this scheme going to save it?” asked Paul.

“Monsieur le comte, you are in love—­”

“Yes.”

“A lover is about as discreet as a cannon-ball; therefore, I shall not explain.  If you repeated what I should say, your marriage would probably be broken off.  I protect your love by my silence.  Have you confidence in my devotion?”

“A fine question!”

“Well, then, believe me when I tell you that Madame Evangelista, her notary, and her daughter, are tricking us through thick and thin; they are more than clever.  Tudieu! what a sly game!”

“Not Natalie,” cried Paul.

“I sha’n’t put my fingers between the bark and the tree,” said the old man.  “You want her, take her!  But I wish you were well out of this marriage, if it could be done without the least wrong-doing on your part.”