“My dear little angel, can we not come to some better arrangement.  Monsieur Minoret and I have acquired property about Rouvre,—­a really regal castle, which gives us forty-eight thousand francs a year; we shall give Desire twenty-four thousand a year which we have in the Funds; in all, seventy thousand francs a year.  You will admit that there are not many better matches than he.  You are an ambitious girl, —­and quite right too,” added Zelie, seeing Ursula’s quick gesture of denial; “I have therefore come to ask your hand for Desire.  You will bear your godfather’s name, and that will honor it.  Desire, as you must have seen, is a handsome fellow; he is very much thought of at Fontainebleau, and he will soon be procureur du roi himself.  You are a coaxing girl and can easily persuade him to live in Paris.  We will give you a fine house there; you will shine; you will play a distinguished part; for, with seventy thousand francs a year and the salary of an office, you and Desire can enter the highest society.  Consult your friends; you’ll see what they tell you.”

“I need only consult my heart, madame.”

“Ta, ta, ta! now don’t talk to me about that little lady-killer Savinien.  You’d pay too high a price for his name, and for that little moustache curled up at the points like two hooks, and his black hair.  How do you expect to manage on seven thousand francs a year, with a man who made two hundred thousand francs of debt in two years?  Besides —­though this is a thing you don’t know yet—­all men are alike; and without flattering myself too much, I may say that my Desire is the equal of a king’s son.”

“You forget, madame, the danger your son is in at this moment; which can, perhaps, be averted only by Monsieur de Portenduere’s desire to please me.  If he knew that you had made me these unworthy proposals that danger might not be escaped.  Besides, let me tell you, madame, that I shall be far happier in the moderate circumstances to which you allude than I should be in the opulence with which you are trying to dazzle me.  For reasons hitherto unknown, but which will yet be made known, Monsieur Minoret, by persecuting me in an odious manner, strengthened the affection that exists between Monsieur de Portenduere and myself—­which I can now admit because his mother has blessed it.  I will also tell you that this affection, sanctioned and legitimate, is life itself to me.  No destiny, however brilliant, however lofty, could make me change.  I love without the possibility of changing.  It would therefore be a crime if I married a man to whom I could take nothing but a soul that is Savinien’s.  But, madame, since you force me to be explicit, I must tell you that even if I did not love Monsieur de Portenduere I could not bring myself to bear the troubles and joys of life in the company of your son.  If Monsieur Savinien made debts, you have often paid those of your son.  Our characters have neither the similarities nor the differences which enable