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Eugenie's hand is sought by several suitors, and in particular by the son of the banker des Grassins and the son of the notary Cruchot, these two families waging a diplomatic warfare on behalf of their respective candidates. Into this midst suddenly comes the fashionable nephew Charles Grandet, whose father has, unknown to him, just committed suicide to escape bankruptcy.
You are playing at loto, aunt," he added. "Do not let me interrupt you, I beg; go on with your game: it is too amusing to leave." "I was certain it was the cousin," thought Madame des Grassins, casting repeated glances at him. "Forty-seven!" cried the old abbe. "Mark it down, Madame des Grassins. Isn't that your number?"
Our good friend ought to define his meaning clearly, and " A loud knock, which announced the arrival of the des Grassins family, succeeded by their entrance and salutations, hindered Cruchot from concluding his sentence. The notary was glad of the interruption, for Grandet was beginning to look suspiciously at him, and the wen gave signs of a brewing storm.
Here! there's a new napoleon for you. I sent to Paris for it. On my word of honor, it's all the gold I have; you are the only one that has got any gold. I want to see your gold, little one." "Oh! it is too cold; let us have breakfast," answered Eugenie. "Well, after breakfast, then; it will help the digestion. That fat des Grassins sent me the pate.
As soon as the Funds reached a hundred and fifteen, Pere Grandet sold out his interests and withdrew two million four hundred thousand francs in gold, to which he added, in his coffers, the six hundred thousand francs compound interest which he had derived from the capital. Des Grassins now lived in Paris. It is useless to speak of his conduct; Saumur considered it profoundly immoral.
I went into this business on the word of that old crocodile Grandet, and I have made promises in the name of his family. If Monsieur de vicomte d'Aubrion does not care for his honor, I care for mine. I shall explain my position to the creditors. There Eugenie paused, and coldly returned the letter without finishing it. "I thank you," she said to Madame des Grassins.
However, after the two questions and the two replies had been exchanged, the newcomer rose, turned his back towards the fire, lifted one foot so as to warm the sole of its boot, and said to Eugenie, "Thank you, my cousin, but I dined at Tours. And," he added, looking at Grandet, "I need nothing; I am not even tired." "Monsieur has come from the capital?" asked Madame des Grassins.
Monsieur des Grassins offered Grandet a pinch of snuff, took one himself, shook off the grains as they fell on the ribbon of the Legion of honor which was attached to the button-hole of his blue surtout; then he looked at the Cruchots with an air that seemed to say, "Parry that thrust if you can!"
Although old Cruchot and Monsieur des Grassins were both gifted with the deep discretion which wealth and trust beget in the provinces, they publicly testified so much respect to Monsieur Grandet that observers estimated the amount of his property by the obsequious attention which they bestowed upon him.
"What has happened in the Grandet family?" became a fixed question which everybody asked everybody else at the little evening-parties of Saumur. Eugenie went to Mass escorted by Nanon. If Madame des Grassins said a few words to her on coming out of church, she answered in an evasive manner, without satisfying any curiosity.
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