If I have
committed follies, I can repair them, and in a way that would surprise
you. Yes, M. Clergeot, I can procure twenty-two thousand francs; I could
have a hundred thousand to-morrow morning, if I saw fit. They would
only cost me the trouble of asking for them. But that I will not do.
My extravagance, with all due deference to you, will remain a secret as
heretofore. I do not choose that my present embarrassed circumstances
should be even suspected. I will not relinquish, for your sake, that at
which I have been aiming, the very day it is within my grasp."
"He resists," thought the usurer; "he is less deeply involved than I
imagined."
"So," continued the advocate, "put your bills in the hands of your
lawyer. Let him sue me. In eight days, I shall be summoned to appear
before the Tribunal de Commerce, and I shall ask for the twenty-five
days' delay, which the judges always grant to an embarrassed debtor.
Twenty-five and eight, all the world over, make just thirty-three days.
That is precisely the respite I need. You have two alternatives: either
accept from me at once a new bill for twenty-four thousand francs
payable in six weeks, or else, as I have an appointment, go off to your
lawyer.
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