“You shall know it all, and in less than an hour. But, oh! You must not
be angry, grandpapa. I have a plan, which is no doubt very foolish. If I
told you, I am afraid you would stop me; and if you succeeded, and then
something happened to Jacques, I should not survive the misery. And
think of it, what you would feel, if you were to think afterwards, ‘If I
had only let her have her way!’”
“Dionysia, you are cruel!”
“On the other hand, if you did not induce me to give up my project, you
would certainly take away all my courage; and I need it all, I tell you,
grandpapa, for what I am going to risk.”
“You see, my dear child, and you must pardon me for repeating it once
more, twenty thousand francs are a big sum of money; and there are many
excellent and clever people who work hard, and deny themselves every
thing, a whole life long, without laying up that much.”
“Ah, so much the better!” cried the young girl. “So much the better. I
do hope there will be enough so as to meet with no refusal!”
Grandpapa Chandore began to comprehend.
“After all,” he said, “you have not told me where we are going.”
“To my dressmakers.”
“To the Misses Mechinet?”
“Yes.”