"I will come," he said quickly.
"What do you decide, sir?" persisted the nun.
"I leave you free, sister, to do as you may judge best."
The worthy woman began to recite her lesson of thanks, but to no
purpose. Noel had disappeared with a displeased look; and almost
immediately she heard his voice in the next room, saying: "At last you
have come, M. Clergeot, I had almost given you up!"
The visitor, whom the advocate had been expecting, is a person well
known in the Rue St. Lazare, round about the Rue de Provence, the
neighbourhood of Notre Dame de Lorette, and all along the exterior
Boulevards, from the Chaussee des Martyrs to the Rond-Point of the old
Barriere de Clichy.
M. Clergeot is no more a usurer than M. Jourdin's father was a
shopkeeper. Only, as he has lots of money, and is very obliging, he
lends it to his friends; and, in return for this kindness, he consents
to receive interest, which varies from fifteen to five hundred per cent.
The excellent man positively loves his clients, and his honesty is
generally appreciated. He has never been known to seize a debtor's
goods; he prefers to follow him up without respite for ten years, and
tear from him bit by bit what is his due.
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