Page:Novels of Honoré de Balzac Volume 23.djvu/355

 said the priest, appearing before the culprit, “you belong to me, for you are suffering. Unhappily, I have come no doubt to augment your anxieties. Last night Ursule had a terrible dream. Your uncle lifted his tombstone to prophesy misfortune to your family. Indeed I do not come to frighten you, but you ought to know what he said—”

“Really, Monsieur le Curé, I can get no peace anywhere, not even on these rocks—I want to know nothing of what is going on in the other world.”

“I will go away, monsieur; I did not come all this way in the heat for my own pleasure,” said the priest, wiping his forehead.

“Well, what did the old man say?” asked Minoret.

“You are threatened with the loss of your son. If he has related things that you alone know of, it makes one shudder to think of the things that we do not know. Restore it, dear monsieur, restore it! Do not condemn yourself for a little gold.”

“But what am I to restore?”

“The fortune that the doctor intended for Ursule. I now know that you took those three bonds. You began by persecuting the poor girl, and you end by offering her a dowry; you fall into falsehood, you become entangled in its intricacies and make mistakes at every turn. You are clumsy, and have been badly served by your accomplice Goupil, who laughs at you. You had better make haste, for you are being watched by shrewd, intelligent people, Ursule’s friends. Make restitution!