United States or Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
It seemed unlikely that Mademoiselle Grandet would marry during the period of her mourning. Her genuine piety was well known. Consequently the Cruchots, whose policy was sagely guided by the old abbe, contented themselves for the time being with surrounding the great heiress and paying her the most affectionate attentions.
I'm an old hand at it," answered the former cooper. At the moment when Grandet was mending his worm-eaten staircase and whistling with all his might, in remembrance of the days of his youth, the three Cruchots knocked at the door. "Is it you, Monsieur Cruchot?" asked Nanon, peeping through the little grating. "Yes," answered the president.
Gentlemen, I trust that you will all do us the honor to come," she added, stopping the procession to address the two Cruchots. "Here you are at home, madame," said the notary.
However, at the end of two months, it became impossible to hide, either from the three Cruchots or from Madame des Grassins, the fact that Eugenie was in confinement.
The manners of the young man, his gestures, the way in which he took up his eye-glass, his affected superciliousness, his contemptuous glance at the coffer which had just given so much pleasure to the rich heiress, and which he evidently regarded as without value, or even as ridiculous, all these things, which shocked the Cruchots and the des Grassins, pleased Eugenie so deeply that before she slept she dreamed long dreams of her phoenix cousin.
The Cruchots, Madame des Grassins, and her son arrived at the usual hour of eight, and were surprised to see neither Madame Grandet nor her daughter. "My wife is not very well, and Eugenie is with her," said the old wine-grower, whose face betrayed no emotion.
"Bless me! then, am I to invest enough to give you a few thousand francs a year?" "That's not much to begin with. Hush! I don't want any one to know I am going to play that game. You can make the investment by the end of the month. Say nothing to the Cruchots; that'll annoy them. If you are really going to Paris, we will see if there is anything to be done for my poor nephew."
But the memory of her cousin was in the gray old hall and on the chimney-piece, where stood a certain saucer and the old Sevres sugar-bowl which she used every morning at her breakfast. This day was destined to be solemn throughout and full of events. Nanon announced the cure of the parish church. He was related to the Cruchots, and therefore in the interests of Monsieur de Bonfons.
This secret warfare between the Cruchots and des Grassins, the prize thereof being the hand in marriage of Eugenie Grandet, kept the various social circles of Saumur in violent agitation. Would Mademoiselle Grandet marry Monsieur le president or Monsieur Adolphe des Grassins? To this problem some replied that Monsieur Grandet would never give his daughter to the one or to the other.
The Cruchotines made so much talk about the false position of the quasi-widow that she married her daughter very badly, and was forced to give up all hope of an alliance between Eugenie Grandet and her son. Adolphe joined his father in Paris and became, it was said, a worthless fellow. The Cruchots triumphed.
Word Of The Day