There was no fire in the grate, so
he was about to tear it into little pieces, when he heard a voice
speaking in Goriot's room, and the speaker was Delphine! He made no
more noise, and stood still to listen, thinking that she should have
no secrets from him; but after the first few words, the conversation
between the father and daughter was so strange and interesting that it
absorbed all his attention.
"Ah! thank heaven that you thought of asking him to give an account of
the money settled on me before I was utterly ruined, father. Is it
safe to talk?" she added.
"Yes, there is no one in the house," said her father faintly.
"What is the matter with you?" asked Mme. de Nucingen.
"God forgive you! you have just dealt me a staggering blow, child!"
said the old man. "You cannot know how much I love you, or you would
not have burst in upon me like this, with such news, especially if all
is not lost. Has something so important happened that you must come
here about it? In a few minutes we should have been in the Rue
d'Artois."
"Eh! does one think what one is doing after a catastrophe? It has
turned my head. Your attorney has found out the state of things now,
but it was bound to come out sooner or later.
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