Winter approached. Mercédès had no fire in that cold and naked room; she, who was accustomed to stoves which heated the house from the hall to the boudoir. She had not even one little flower, she whose apartment had been a conservatory of costly exotics. But she had her son. Hitherto the excitement of fulfilling a duty had sustained them. Excitement, like enthusiasm, sometimes renders us unconscious to the things of earth. But the excitement had calmed down, and they felt themselves obliged to descend from dreams to reality; after having exhausted the ideal, they found they must talk of the actual.
"Mother!" exclaimed Albert, just as Madame Danglars was descend ing the stairs, "let us reckon our riches, if you please; I want a capital to build my plans upon."
"Capital—nothing!" replied Mercédès with a mournful smile.
"No, mother,—capital, three thousand francs. And I have an idea of our leading a delightful life upon this three thousand francs."
"Child!" sighed Mercédès.
"Alas! dear mother!" said the young man, "I have unhappily spent too much of your money not to know the value of it. These three thousand francs are enormous, and I intend building upon this foundation a miraculous certainty for the future."
"You say this, my dear boy; but do you think we ought to accept these three thousand francs?" said Mercédès, coloring.
"I think so," answered Albert, in a firm tone. "We will accept them the more readily, since we have them not here; you know they are buried in the garden of the little house in the Allées de Meillan, at Marseilles. With two hundred francs we can reach Marseilles." "With two hundred francs?—think well, Albert."
"Oh! as for that, I have made inquiries respecting the diligences and steamboats, and my calculations are made. You will take your place in the coupe to Chalons. You see, mother, I treat you handsomely for thirty-five francs."
Albert then took a pen, and wrote:
| Frs. | |
| "Coupé, thirty-five francs | 35 |
| From Châlons to Lyons you will go on by the steamboat six francs | 6 |
| From Lyons to Avignon (still by steamboat), sixteen francs | 16 |
| From Avignon to Marseilles, seven francs | 7 |
| Expenses on the road, about fifty francs | 50 |
| Total | 114 frs." |
"Let us put down one hundred and twenty," added Albert. "You see I am generous; am I not, mother?"
