What troubled her most was that
she could not logically explain the conduct of her enemies from
the time M. de Fondege had asked her hand for his son up to the
present moment. And first, why had they been so audacious or so
imprudent as to bring her to their own home if they had really
stolen one of those immense amounts that are sure to betray their
possessors?" They are mad," she thought, "or else they must deem
me blind, deaf, and more stupid than mortal ever was!" Secondly,
why should they be so anxious to marry her to their son,
Lieutenant Gustave? This also was a puzzling question. However,
she was fully decided on one point: the suspicions of the Fondege
family must not be aroused. If they were on their guard, it would
be the easiest thing in the world for them to pay their debts
quietly, and increase their expenditure so imperceptibly that she
would not be able to prove a sudden acquisition of wealth.
But the events of the next few days dispelled these apprehensions.
That very afternoon, although it was Sunday, it became evident
that a shower of gold had fallen on the General's abode. The
door-bell rang incessantly for several hours, and an interminable
procession of tradesmen entered. It looked very much as if M. de
Fondege had called a meeting of his creditors. They came in
haughty and arrogant, with their hats upon their heads, and surly
of speech, like people who have made up their minds to accept
their loss, but who intend to pay themselves in rudeness.
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