then, it is understood; I give you the money and put you in possession
of my secret; we will go shares, and there's no need for any papers
between us. Hurrah for success! we'll act in concert. Off with you, my
boy! As for me, I've got my part to attend to. One minute, Popinot. I
give a great ball three weeks hence; get yourself a dress-coat, and
look like a merchant already launched."

This last kindness touched Popinot so deeply that he caught Cesar's
big hand and kissed it; the worthy soul had flattered the lover by
this confidence, and people in love are capable of anything.

"Poor boy!" thought Birotteau, as he watched him hurrying across the
Tuileries. "Suppose Cesarine should love him? But he is lame, and his
hair is the color of a warming-pan. Young girls are queer; still, I
don't think that Cesarine--And then her mother wants to see her the
wife of a notary. Alexandre Crottat can make her rich; wealth makes
everything bearable, and there is no happiness that won't give way
under poverty. However, I am resolved to leave my daughter mistress of
herself, even if it seems a folly."



IV

Birotteau's neighbor was a small dealer in umbrellas, parasols, and
canes, named Cayron,--a man from Languedoc, doing a poor business,
whom Cesar had several times befriended. Cayron wished nothing better
than to confine himself to the ground-floor and let the rich perfumer
take the floor above it, thus diminishing his rent.