“Well, a position in Paris begins with fifty thousand.  And you certainly will not make up to me for the position I should surrender.  —­What was my aim?  I want to see Marneffe a first-class clerk; he will then draw a salary of six thousand francs.  He has been twenty-seven years in his office; within three years I shall have a right to a pension of fifteen hundred francs when he dies.  You, to whom I have been entirely kind, to whom I have given your fill of happiness—­you cannot wait!—­And that is what men call love!” she exclaimed.

“Though I began with an ulterior purpose,” said Crevel, “I have become your poodle.  You trample on my heart, you crush me, you stultify me, and I love you as I have never loved in my life.  Valerie, I love you as much as I love my Celestine.  I am capable of anything for your sake.—­Listen, instead of coming twice a week to the Rue du Dauphin, come three times.”

“Is that all!  You are quite young again, my dear boy!”

“Only let me pack off Hulot, humiliate him, rid you of him,” said Crevel, not heeding her impertinence!  “Have nothing to say to the Brazilian, be mine alone; you shall not repent of it.  To begin with, I will give you eight thousand francs a year, secured by bond, but only as an annuity; I will not give you the capital till the end of five years’ constancy—­”

“Always a bargain!  A tradesman can never learn to give.  You want to stop for refreshments on the road of love—­in the form of Government bonds!  Bah!  Shopman, pomatum seller! you put a price on everything!  —­Hector told me that the Duc d’Herouville gave Josepha a bond for thirty thousand francs a year in a packet of sugar almonds!  And I am worth six of Josepha.

“Oh! to be loved!” she went on, twisting her ringlets round her fingers, and looking at herself in the glass.  “Henri loves me.  He would smash you like a fly if I winked at him!  Hulot loves me; he leaves his wife in beggary!  As for you, go my good man, be the worthy father of a family.  You have three hundred thousand francs over and above your fortune, only to amuse yourself, a hoard, in fact, and you think of nothing but increasing it—­”

“For you, Valerie, since I offer you half,” said he, falling on his knees.

“What, still here!” cried Marneffe, hideous in his dressing-gown.  “What are you about?”

“He is begging my pardon, my dear, for an insulting proposal he has dared to make me.  Unable to obtain my consent, my gentleman proposed to pay me——­”

Crevel only longed to vanish into the cellar, through a trap, as is done on the stage.

“Get up, Crevel,” said Marneffe, laughing, “you are ridiculous.  I can see by Valerie’s manner that my honor is in no danger.”

“Go to bed and sleep in peace,” said Madame Marneffe.

“Isn’t she clever?” thought Crevel.  “She has saved me.  She is adorable!”

As Marneffe disappeared, the Mayor took Valerie’s hands and kissed them, leaving on them the traces of tears.