He held out his hand to take that of the old lady, which she allowed him to do; then he kissed it respectfully, bowed profoundly, and left the room; but returned immediately to say:—­

“My dear abbe, may I ask you to engage a place in the diligence for me to-morrow?”

The abbe stayed behind for half an hour to sing the praises of his friend, who meant to win and had succeeded in winning the good graces of the old lady.

“He is an astonishing man for his age,” she said.  “He talks of going to Paris and attending to my son’s affairs as if he were only twenty-five.  He has certainly seen good society.”

“The very best, madame; and to-day more than one son of a peer of France would be glad to marry his goddaughter with a million.  Ah! if that idea should come into Savinien’s head!—­times are so changed that the objections would not come from your side, especially after his late conduct—­”

The amazement into which the speech threw the old lady alone enabled him to finish it.

“You have lost your senses,” she said at last.

“Think it over, madame; God grant that your son may conduct himself in future in a manner to win that old man’s respect.”

“If it were not you, Monsieur l’abbe,” said Madame de Portenduere, “if it were any one else who spoke to me in that way—­”

“You would not see him again,” said the abbe, smiling.  “Let us hope that your dear son will enlighten you as to what occurs in Paris in these days as to marriages.  You will think only of Savinien’s good; as you really have helped to compromise his future you will not stand in the way of his making himself another position.”

“And it is you who say that to me?”

“If I did not say it to you, who would?” cried the abbe rising and making a hasty retreat.

As he left the house he saw Ursula and her godfather standing in their courtyard.  The weak doctor had been so entreated by Ursula that he had just yielded to her.  She wanted to go with him to Paris, and gave a thousand reasons.  He called to the abbe and begged him to engage the whole coupe for him that very evening if the booking-office were still open.

The next day at half-past six o’clock the old man and the young girl reached Paris, and the doctor went at once to consult his notary.  Political events were then very threatening.  Monsieur Bongrand had remarked in the course of the preceding evening that a man must be a fool to keep a penny in the public funds so long as the quarrel between the press and the court was not made up.  Minoret’s notary now indirectly approved of this opinion.  The doctor therefore took advantage of his journey to sell out his manufacturing stocks and his shares in the Funds, all of which were then at a high value, depositing the proceeds in the Bank of France.  The notary also advised his client to sell the stocks left to Ursula by Monsieur de Jordy.  He promised to employ an extremely clever broker to treat with Savinien’s creditors; but said that in order to succeed it would be necessary for the young man to stay several days longer in prison.