“Have the goodness to send me the deeds relating to the affair of the Madeleine,” he said; “our security in making you this credit lies there:  we must examine them before we consent to make it, or discuss the terms.  If the affair is sound, we shall be willing, so as not to embarrass you, to take a share of the profits in place of receiving a discount.”

“Well,” thought Birotteau, as he walked away, “I see what it means.  Like the hunted beaver, I am to give up a part of my skin.  After all, it is better to be shorn than killed.”

He went home smiling gaily, and his gaiety was genuine.

“I am saved,” he said to Cesarine.  “I am to have a credit with the Kellers.”

III

It was not until the 29th of December that Birotteau was allowed to re-enter Adolphe’s cabinet.  The first time he called, Adolphe had gone into the country to look at a piece of property which the great orator thought of buying.  The second time, the two Kellers were deeply engaged for the whole day, preparing a tender for a loan proposed in the Chamber, and they begged Monsieur Birotteau to return on the following Friday.  These delays were killing to the poor man.  But Friday came at last.  Birotteau found himself in the cabinet, placed in one corner of the fireplace, facing the light from a window, with Adolphe Keller opposite to him.

“They are all right, monsieur,” said the banker, pointing to the deeds.  “But what payments have you made on the price of the land?”

“One hundred and forty thousand francs.”

“Cash?”

“Notes.”

“Are they paid?”

“They are not yet due.”

“But supposing you have paid more than the present value of the property, where will be our security?  It will rest solely on the respect you inspire, and the consideration in which you are held.  Business is not conducted on sentiment.  If you had paid two hundred thousand francs, supposing that there were another one hundred thousand paid down in advance for possession of the land, we should then have had the security of a hundred thousand francs, to warrant us in giving you a credit of one hundred thousand.  The result might be to make us owners of your share by our paying for it, instead of your doing so; consequently we must be satisfied that the affair is a sound one.  To wait five years to double our capital won’t do for us; it is better to employ it in other ways.  There are so many chances!  You are trying to circulate paper to pay your notes when they fall due,—­a dangerous game.  It is wiser to step back for a better leap.  The affair does not suit us.”

This sentence struck Birotteau as if the executioner had stamped his shoulder with the marking-iron; he lost his head.

“Come,” said Adolphe, “my brother feels a great interest in you; he spoke of you to me.  Let us examine into your affairs,” he added, glancing at Cesar with the look of a courtesan eager to pay her rent.