"It is only another way of investing one's money."
That day he lunched at Voisin's and drank wine worth twenty francs a
bottle. Then he hired a carriage and made a tour of the Bois, and as he
scanned the various turn-outs with a contemptuous air he could hardly
refrain from crying out to the occupants:
"I, too, am rich!--I am worth two hundred thousand francs."
Suddenly he thought of his employer. He drove up to the office, and
entered gaily, saying:
"Sir, I have come to resign my position. I have just inherited three
hundred thousand francs."
He shook hands with his former colleagues and confided to them some of
his projects for the future; then he went off to dine at the Cafe
Anglais.
He seated himself beside a gentleman of aristocratic bearing, and
during the meal informed the latter confidentially that he had just
inherited a fortune of four hundred thousand francs.
For the first time in his life he was not bored at the theater, and
spent the remainder of the night in a gay frolic.
Six months afterward he married again. His second wife was a very
virtuous woman, with a violent temper. She caused him much sorrow.