the Bourse in their name, to make an agreement with a pretended
adversary, a man of straw, from whom he received back for himself
certain sums which he had charged as losses to his clients. As soon as
he had gained fifty thousand francs he was sure of fortune. He had the
eye of an eagle to discern the phases through which France was then
passing. He played low during the campaign of the allied armies, and
high on the restoration of the Bourbons. Two months after the return
of Louis XVIII., Madame Roguin was worth two hundred thousand francs,
du Tillet three hundred thousand, and the notary had been able to get
his accounts once more into order.

La belle Hollandaise wasted her share of the profits; for she was
secretly a prey to an infamous scoundrel named Maxime de Trailles, a
former page of the Emperor. Du Tillet discovered the real name of this
woman in drawing out a deed. She was Sarah Gobseck. Struck by the
coincidence of the name with that of a well-known usurer, he went to
the old money-lender (that providence of young men of family) to find
out how far he would back the credit of his relation. The Brutus of
usurers was implacable towards his great-niece, but du Tillet himself
pleased him by posing as Sarah's banker, and having funds to invest.
The Norman nature and the rapacious nature suited each other. Gobseck
happened to want a clever young man to examine into an affair in a
foreign country. It chanced that an auditor of the Council of State,
overtaken by the return of the Bourbons and anxious to stand well at
court, had gone to Germany and bought up all the debts contracted by
the princes during the emigration. He now offered the profits of the
affair, which to him was merely political, to any one who would
reimburse him. Gobseck would pay no money down, unless in proportion
to the redemption of the debts, and insisted on a careful examination
of the affair. Usurers never trust any one; they demand vouchers. With