A Start in Life [11]
key of the count's affairs; he was intelligent, and before the
Revolution he had studied law in his father's office; so Monsieur de
Serizy granted his request.
"You can never advance in life," he said to Moreau, "for you have
broken your neck; but you can be happy, and I will take care that you
are so."
He gave Moreau a salary of three thousand francs and his residence in
a charming lodge near the chateau, all the wood he needed from the
timber that was cut on the estate, oats, hay, and straw for two
horses, and a right to whatever he wanted of the produce of the
gardens. A sub-prefect is not as well provided for.
During the first eight years of his stewardship, Moreau managed the
estate conscientiously; he took an interest in it. The count, coming
down now and then to examine the property, pass judgment on what had
been done, and decide on new purchases, was struck with Moreau's
evident loyalty, and showed his satisfaction by liberal gifts.
But after the birth of Moreau's third child, a daughter, he felt
himself so securely settled in all his comforts at Presles that he
ceased to attribute to Monsieur de Serizy those enormous advantages.
About the year 1816, the steward, who until then had only taken what
he needed for his own use from the estate, accepted a sum of twenty-
five thousand francs from a wood-merchant as an inducement to lease to
the latter, for twelve years, the cutting of all the timber. Moreau
argued this: he could have no pension; he was the father of a family;
the count really owed him that sum as a gift after ten years'
management; already the legitimate possessor of sixty thousand francs
in savings, if he added this sum to that, he could buy a farm worth a
hundred and twenty-five thousand francs in Champagne, a township just
above Isle-Adam, on the right bank of the Oise. Political events
prevented both the count and the neighboring country-people from
becoming aware of this investment, which was made in the name of
Madame Moreau, who was understood to have inherited property from an
aunt of her father.
As soon as the steward had tasted the delightful fruit of the
possession of the property, he began, all the while maintaining toward
the world an appearance of the utmost integrity, to lose no occasion
of increasing his fortune clandestinely; the interests of his three
children served as a poultice to the wounds of his honor.
Nevertheless, we ought in justice to say that while he accepted casks
of wine, and took care of himself in all the purchases that he made
for the count, yet according to the terms of the Code he remained an
honest man, and no proof could have been found to justify an
accusation against him. According to the jurisprudence of the least
thieving cook in Paris, he shared with the count in the profits due to
his own capable management. This manner of swelling his fortune was
simply a case of conscience, that was all. Alert, and thoroughly
understanding the count's interests, Moreau watched for opportunities
to make good purchases all the more eagerly, because he gained a
larger percentage on them. Presles returned a revenue of seventy
thousand francs net. It was a saying of the country-side for a circuit
of thirty miles:--
"Monsieur de Serizy has a second self in Moreau."
Being a prudent man, Moreau invested yearly, after 1817, both his
profits and his salary on the Grand Livre, piling up his heap with the
utmost secrecy. He often refused proposals on the plea of want of
money; and he played the poor man so successfully with the count that
the latter gave him the means to send both his sons to the school
Henri IV. At the present moment Moreau was worth one hundred and
twenty thousand francs of capital invested in the Consolidated thirds,
now paying five per cent, and quoted at eighty francs. These carefully
hidden one hundred and twenty thousand francs, and his farm at
Champagne,
Revolution he had studied law in his father's office; so Monsieur de
Serizy granted his request.
"You can never advance in life," he said to Moreau, "for you have
broken your neck; but you can be happy, and I will take care that you
are so."
He gave Moreau a salary of three thousand francs and his residence in
a charming lodge near the chateau, all the wood he needed from the
timber that was cut on the estate, oats, hay, and straw for two
horses, and a right to whatever he wanted of the produce of the
gardens. A sub-prefect is not as well provided for.
During the first eight years of his stewardship, Moreau managed the
estate conscientiously; he took an interest in it. The count, coming
down now and then to examine the property, pass judgment on what had
been done, and decide on new purchases, was struck with Moreau's
evident loyalty, and showed his satisfaction by liberal gifts.
But after the birth of Moreau's third child, a daughter, he felt
himself so securely settled in all his comforts at Presles that he
ceased to attribute to Monsieur de Serizy those enormous advantages.
About the year 1816, the steward, who until then had only taken what
he needed for his own use from the estate, accepted a sum of twenty-
five thousand francs from a wood-merchant as an inducement to lease to
the latter, for twelve years, the cutting of all the timber. Moreau
argued this: he could have no pension; he was the father of a family;
the count really owed him that sum as a gift after ten years'
management; already the legitimate possessor of sixty thousand francs
in savings, if he added this sum to that, he could buy a farm worth a
hundred and twenty-five thousand francs in Champagne, a township just
above Isle-Adam, on the right bank of the Oise. Political events
prevented both the count and the neighboring country-people from
becoming aware of this investment, which was made in the name of
Madame Moreau, who was understood to have inherited property from an
aunt of her father.
As soon as the steward had tasted the delightful fruit of the
possession of the property, he began, all the while maintaining toward
the world an appearance of the utmost integrity, to lose no occasion
of increasing his fortune clandestinely; the interests of his three
children served as a poultice to the wounds of his honor.
Nevertheless, we ought in justice to say that while he accepted casks
of wine, and took care of himself in all the purchases that he made
for the count, yet according to the terms of the Code he remained an
honest man, and no proof could have been found to justify an
accusation against him. According to the jurisprudence of the least
thieving cook in Paris, he shared with the count in the profits due to
his own capable management. This manner of swelling his fortune was
simply a case of conscience, that was all. Alert, and thoroughly
understanding the count's interests, Moreau watched for opportunities
to make good purchases all the more eagerly, because he gained a
larger percentage on them. Presles returned a revenue of seventy
thousand francs net. It was a saying of the country-side for a circuit
of thirty miles:--
"Monsieur de Serizy has a second self in Moreau."
Being a prudent man, Moreau invested yearly, after 1817, both his
profits and his salary on the Grand Livre, piling up his heap with the
utmost secrecy. He often refused proposals on the plea of want of
money; and he played the poor man so successfully with the count that
the latter gave him the means to send both his sons to the school
Henri IV. At the present moment Moreau was worth one hundred and
twenty thousand francs of capital invested in the Consolidated thirds,
now paying five per cent, and quoted at eighty francs. These carefully
hidden one hundred and twenty thousand francs, and his farm at
Champagne,