Gabriel came home to his father's house on the following day.When Monsieur de Solis brought him up to Balthazar and told of his admission to the Ecole Polytechnique, the father thanked the professor with a wave of his hand, and said:--"I am very glad; Gabriel may become a man of science.""Oh, my brother," cried Marguerite, as Balthazar went back to his laboratory, "work hard, waste no money; spend what is necessary, but practise economy.On the days when you are allowed to go out, pass your time with our friends and relations; contract none of the habits which ruin young men in Paris.Your expenses will amount to nearly three thousand francs, and that will leave you a thousand francs for your pocket-money; that is surely enough.""I will answer for him," said Emmanuel de Solis, laying his hand on his pupil's shoulder.
A month later, Monsieur Conyncks, in conjunction with Marguerite, had obtained all necessary securities from Claes.The plan so wisely proposed by Emmanuel de Solis was fully approved and executed.Face to face with the law, and in presence of his cousin, whose stern sense of honor allowed no compromise, Balthazar, ashamed of the sale of the timber to which he had consented at a moment when he was harassed by creditors, submitted to all that was demanded of him.Glad to repair the almost involuntary wrong that he had done to his children, he signed the deeds in a preoccupied way.He was now as careless and improvident as a Negro who sells his wife in the morning for a drop of brandy, and cries for her at night.He gave no thought to even the immediate future, and never asked himself what resources he would have when his last ducat was melted up.He pursued his work and continued his purchases, apparently unaware that he was now no more than the titular owner of his house and lands, and that he could not, thanks to the severity of the laws, raise another penny upon a property of which he was now, as it were, the legal guardian.
The year 1818 ended without bringing any new misfortune.The sisters paid the costs of Jean's education and met all the expenses of the household out of the thirteen thousand francs a year from the sum placed in the Grand-Livre in Gabriel's name, which he punctually remitted to them.Monsieur de Solis lost his uncle, the abbe, in December of that year.
Early in January Marguerite learned through Martha that her father had sold his collection of tulips, also the furniture of the front house, and all the family silver.She was obliged to buy back the spoons and forks that were necessary for the daily service of the table, and these she now ordered to be stamped with her initials.Until that day Marguerite had kept silence towards her father on the subject of his depredations, but that evening after dinner she requested Felicie to leave her alone with him, and when he seated himself as usual by the corner of the parlor fireplace, she said:--"My dear father, you are the master here, and can sell everything, even your children.We are ready to obey you without a murmur; but Iam forced to tell you that we are without money, that we have barely enough to live on, and that Felicie and I are obliged to work night and day to pay for the schooling of little Jean with the price of the lace dress we are now making.My dear father, I implore you to give up your researches.""You are right, my dear child; in six weeks they will be finished; Ishall have found the Absolute, or the Absolute will be proved undiscoverable.You will have millions--""Give us meanwhile the bread to eat," replied Marguerite.
"Bread? is there no bread here?" said Claes, with a frightened air.
"No bread in the house of a Claes! What has become of our property?""You have cut down the forest of Waignies.The ground has not been cleared and is therefore unproductive.As for your farms at Orchies, the rents scarcely suffice to pay the interest of the sums you have borrowed--""Then what are we living on?" he demanded.
Marguerite held up her needle and continued:--"Gabriel's income helps us, but it is insufficient; I can make both ends meet at the close of the year if you do not overwhelm me with bills that I do not expect, for purchases you tell me nothing about.
When I think I have enough to meet my quarterly expenses some unexpected bill for potash, or zinc, or sulphur, is brought to me.""My dear child, have patience for six weeks; after that, I will be judicious.My little Marguerite, you shall see wonders.""It is time you should think of your affairs.You have sold everything,--pictures, tulips, plate; nothing is left.At least, refrain from making debts.""I don't wish to make any more!" he said.
"Any more?" she cried, "then you have some?""Mere trifles," he said, but he dropped his eyes and colored.
For the first time in her life Marguerite felt humiliated by the lowering of her father's character, and suffered from it so much that she dared not question him.
A month after this scene one of the Douai bankers brought a bill of exchange for ten thousand francs signed by Claes.Marguerite asked the banker to wait a day, and expressed her regret that she had not been notified to prepare for this payment; whereupon he informed her that the house of Protez and Chiffreville held nine other bills to the same amount, falling due in consecutive months.
