“The Count seemed to be entirely absorbed in his own thoughts.
“ ‘You shall have your money tomorrow,’ he said, ‘have the diamonds in readiness,’ and he went.
“ ‘There goes one who looks to me to be as stupid as an honest man,’ Gobseck said coolly when the Count had gone.
“ ‘Say rather stupid as a man of passionate nature.’
“ ‘The Count owes you your fee for drawing up the agreement!’ Gobseck called after me as I took my leave.”
“One morning, a few days after the scene which initiated me into the terrible depths beneath the surface of the life of a woman of fashion, the Count came into my private office.
“ ‘I have come to consult you on a matter of grave moment,’ he said, ‘and I begin by telling you that I have perfect confidence in you, as I hope to prove to you. Your behavior to Mme. de Grandlieu is above all praise,’ the Count went on. (You see, madame, that you have paid me a thousand times over for a very simple matter.)
“I bowed respectfully, and replied that I had done nothing but the duty of an honest man.
“ ‘Well,’ the Count went on, ‘I have made a great many inquiries about the singular personage to whom you owe your position. And from all that I can learn, Gobseck is a philosopher of the Cynic school. What do you think of his probity?’
“ ‘M. le Comte,’ said I, ‘Gobseck is my benefactor—at fifteen percent,’ I added, laughing. ‘But his avarice does not authorize me to paint him to the life for a stranger’s benefit.’
“ ‘Speak out, sir. Your frankness cannot injure Gobseck or yourself. I do not expect to find an angel in a pawnbroker.’
“ ‘Daddy Gobseck,’ I began, ‘is intimately convinced of the truth of the principle which he takes for a rule of life. In his opinion, money is a commodity which you may sell cheap or dear, according to circumstances, with a clear conscience. A capitalist, by charging a high rate of interest, becomes in his eyes a secured partner by anticipation. Apart from the peculiar philosophical views of human nature and financial principles, which enable him to behave like a usurer, I am fully persuaded that, out of his business, he is the most loyal and upright soul in Paris. There are two men in him; he is petty and great—a miser and a philosopher. If I were to die and leave a family behind me, he would be the guardian whom I should appoint. This was how I came to see Gobseck in this light, monsieur. I know nothing of his past life. He may have been a pirate, may, for anything I know, have been all over the world, trafficking in diamonds, or men, or women, or State secrets; but this I affirm of him—never has human soul been more thoroughly tempered and tried. When I paid off my loan, I asked him, with a little circumlocution of course, how it was that he had made me pay such an exorbitant rate of interest; and why, seeing that I was a friend, and he meant to do me a kindness, he should not have yielded to the wish and made it complete.—“My son,” he said, “I released you from all need to feel any gratitude by giving you ground for the belief that you owed me nothing.”—So we are the best friends in the world. That answer, monsieur, gives you the man better than any amount of description.’
“ ‘I have made up my mind once and for all,’ said the Count. ‘Draw up the necessary papers; I am going to transfer my property to Gobseck. I have no one but you to trust to in the draft of the counter-deed, which will declare that this transfer is a simulated sale, and that Gobseck as trustee will administer my estate (as he knows how to administer), and undertakes to make over my fortune to my eldest son when he comes of age. Now, sir, this I must tell you: I should be afraid to have that precious document in my own keeping. My boy is so fond of his mother, that I cannot trust him with it. So dare I beg of you to keep it for me? In case of death, Gobseck would make you legatee of my property. Every contingency is provided for.’
“The Count paused for a moment. He seemed greatly agitated.
“ ‘A thousand pardons,’ he said at length; ‘I am in great pain, and have very grave misgivings as to my health. Recent troubles have disturbed me very painfully, and forced me to take this great step.’
“ ‘Allow me first to thank you, monsieur,’ said I, ‘for the trust you place me in. But I am bound to deserve it by pointing out to you that you are disinheriting your—other children. They bear your name. Merely as the children of a once-loved wife, now fallen from her position, they have a claim to an assured existence. I tell you plainly that I cannot accept the trust with which you propose to honor me unless their future is secured.’
“The Count trembled violently at the words, and tears came into his eyes as he grasped my hand, saying, ‘I did not know my man thoroughly. You have made me both glad and sorry. We will make provision for the children in the counter-deed.’
“I went with him to the door; it seemed to me that there was a glow of satisfaction in his face at the thought of this act of justice.
“Now, Camille, this is how a young wife takes the first step to the brink of a precipice. A quadrille, a ballad, a picnic party is sometimes cause sufficient of frightful evils. You are hurried on by the presumptuous voice of vanity and pride, on the faith of a smile, or through giddiness and folly! Shame and misery and remorse are three Furies awaiting every woman
