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Now Nicolas Sechard's establishment hitherto had enjoyed a monopoly of all the official printing in the department, besides the work of the prefecture and the diocese three connections which should prove mighty profitable to an active young printer; but precisely at this juncture the firm of Cointet Brothers, paper manufacturers, applied to the authorities for the second printer's license in Angouleme.
Sechard," voices said here and there. "I should never have believed it of her," said a woman. "The husband is in hiding, and the wife walks abroad," said Mme. Postel for young Mme. Sechard's benefit. "Oh, let us go home," said poor Eve; "I have made a mistake." A few minutes before sunset, the sound of a crowd rose from the steps that lead down to L'Houmeau.
He called old Sechard's attention to the fact that he had never as yet made any inquiry as to his mother's fortune; if that fortune would not buy the printing-house, it might go some ways towards paying the working expenses. "Your mother's fortune?" echoed old Sechard; "why, it was her beauty and intelligence!"
David Sechard's undertakings were thus worded in the deed:
Was it not enough already, and more than enough, that the ruthless hunters were on the track of the quarry? How should David and his wife, with Kolb and Marion to help them, escape the toils of a Boniface Cointet? A draft for five hundred francs came from Lucien, and this, with Cerizet's second payment, enabled them to meet all the expenses of Mme. Sechard's confinement.
"You will present me to-morrow to Mme. de Sononches, and do something definite for me; you will keep your word, in short; or I will clear off Sechard's debts myself, sell my practice, and go into partnership with him. I will not be duped. You have spoken out, and I am doing the same. I have given proof, give me proof of your sincerity. You have all, and I have nothing.
"Here is my passport," replied Derville, handing him a paper folded in four; "and monsieur is not, as you might suppose, an inspector from the Treasury, so be easy," he added. "We had an important reason for wanting to know the truth as to the Sechard estate, and we now know it." Derville took Madame Sechard's hand and led her very courteously to the further end of the room.
She wanted to know if she could relieve David from his embarrassments by taking them upon herself and selling her claims upon the estate, and besides, she had some hope of discovering the truth as to Petit-Claud's unaccountable conduct. The official, struck with Mme. Sechard's beauty, received her not only with the respect due to a woman but with a sort of courtesy to which Eve was not accustomed.
When he came back to offer his arm, it was from a tolerably Machiavellian motive; but Eve gave him credit for delicate consideration, and he allowed her to thank him for it. The little attention, at such a moment, from so hard a man, modified Mme. Sechard's previous opinion of Petit-Claud. "I am taking you round by the longest way," he said, "and we shall meet nobody."
Courtois says that your daughter is married to Postel, monsieur, so you must know something of David Sechard's affairs; oh, for heaven's sake, monsieur, tell me what you know!" "Why, he must be in prison," began the doctor; "his father would not help him " "In prison!" repeated Lucien, "and why?"
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