Honore de Balzac: Cousin Betty

1. PART I: THE PRODIGAL FATHER (continued)

"It is the old law of tit-for-tat! And I will persevere till I have attained my end, unless you should become extremely ugly.--I shall succeed; and I will tell you why," he went on, resuming his attitude, and looking at Madame Hulot. "You will not meet with such an old man, or such a young lover," he said after a pause, "because you love your daughter too well to hand her over to the manoeuvres of an old libertine, and because you--the Baronne Hulot, sister of the old Lieutenant-General who commanded the veteran Grenadiers of the Old Guard--will not condescend to take a man of spirit wherever you may find him; for he might be a mere craftsman, as many a millionaire of to-day was ten years ago, a working artisan, or the foreman of a factory.

"And then, when you see the girl, urged by her twenty years, capable of dishonoring you all, you will say to yourself, 'It will be better that I should fall! If Monsieur Crevel will but keep my secret, I will earn my daughter's portion--two hundred thousand francs for ten years' attachment to that old gloveseller--old Crevel!'--I disgust you no doubt, and what I am saying is horribly immoral, you think? But if you happened to have been bitten by an overwhelming passion, you would find a thousand arguments in favor of yielding--as women do when they are in love.--Yes, and Hortense's interests will suggest to your feelings such terms of surrendering your conscience----"

"Hortense has still an uncle."

"What! Old Fischer? He is winding up his concerns, and that again is the Baron's fault; his rake is dragged over every till within his reach."

"Comte Hulot----"

"Oh, madame, your husband has already made thin air of the old General's savings. He spent them in furnishing his singer's rooms.-- Now, come; am I to go without a hope?"

"Good-bye, monsieur. A man easily gets over a passion for a woman of my age, and you will fall back on Christian principles. God takes care of the wretched----"