--By the way," added the
Prince, as he shook hands with Victorin, "your father has
disappeared?"
"Alas! yes."
"So much the better. That unhappy man has shown his wit, in which,
indeed, he is not lacking."
"There are bills of his to be met."
"Well, you shall have six months' pay of your three appointments in
advance. This pre-payment will help you, perhaps, to get the notes out
of the hands of the money-lender. And I will see Nucingen, and perhaps
may succeed in releasing your father's pension, pledged to him,
without its costing you or our office a sou. The peer has not killed
the banker in Nucingen; he is insatiable; he wants some concession.--I
know not what----"
So on his return to the Rue Plumet, Victorin could carry out his plan
of lodging his mother and sister under his roof.
The young lawyer, already famous, had, for his sole fortune, one of
the handsomest houses in Paris, purchased in 1834 in preparation for
his marriage, situated on the boulevard between the Rue de la Paix and
the Rue Louis-le-Grand. A speculator had built two houses between the
boulevard and the street; and between these, with the gardens and
courtyards to the front and back, there remained still standing a
splendid wing, the remains of the magnificent mansion of the
Verneuils.
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