She resided on a little property four leagues away from Rennes, and she
now dispensed with a servant. The expenses having increased to more than
double what they had been since this orphan's arrival, her income of
three thousand francs was no longer sufficient to support three persons.

She attended to the housekeeping and the cooking herself, and sent the
boy out on errands, letting him further occupy himself with cultivating
the garden. He was gentle, timid, silent, and caressing. And she
experienced a deep joy, a fresh joy at being embraced by him, without
any apparent surprise or repugnance being exhibited by him on account of
her ugliness. He called her "Aunt" and treated her as a mother.

In the evening they both sat down at the fireside, and she got nice
things ready for him. She heated some wine and toasted a slice of bread,
and it made a charming little meal before going to bed. She often took
him on her knees and covered him with kisses, murmuring in his ear with
passionate tenderness. She called him: "My little flower, my cherub, my
adored angel, my divine jewel." He softly accepted her caresses,
concealing his head on the old maid's shoulder. Although he was now
nearly fifteen years old, he had remained small and weak, and had a
rather sickly appearance.

Sometimes Mademoiselle Source brought him to the city to see two married
female relatives of hers, distant cousins, who were living in the
suburbs, and who were the only members of her family in existence. The
two women had always found fault with her for having adopted this boy,
on account of the inheritance; but for all that they gave her a cordial
welcome, having still hopes of getting a share for themselves, a third,
no doubt, if what she possessed were only equally divided.