"
"So there is to be an engagement of marriage between M. le Chevalier
Eugene de Rastignac and Mlle. Victorine Taillefer, is there?" The
words were uttered in Vautrin's deep voice, and Vautrin appeared at
the door as he spoke.
"Oh! how you startled me!" Mme. Couture and Mme. Vauquer exclaimed
together.
"I might make a worse choice," said Rastignac, laughing. Vautrin's
voice had thrown him into the most painful agitation that he had yet
known.
"No bad jokes, gentlemen!" said Mme. Couture. "My dear, let us go
upstairs."
Mme. Vauquer followed the two ladies, meaning to pass the evening in
their room, an arrangement that economized fire and candlelight.
Eugene and Vautrin were left alone.
"I felt sure you would come round to it," said the elder man with the
coolness that nothing seemed to shake. "But stay a moment! I have as
much delicacy as anybody else. Don't make up your mind on the spur of
the moment; you are a little thrown off your balance just now. You are
in debt, and I want you to come over to my way of thinking after sober
reflection, and not in a fit of passion or desperation. Perhaps you
want a thousand crowns. There, you can have them if you like.
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