"
"Oh, grandpapa!" said Francois.
"Be silent!" said the old man sternly. "I know of your nocturnal life
and your intimacy with Monsieur Maxence Gilet. But you will meet him
no more at Mere Cognette's at one in the morning; for you will not
leave this house, either of you, until you go to your respective
destinations. Ha! it was you who ruined Fario, was it? you, who have
narrowly escaped the police-courts-- Hold your tongue!" he said,
seeing that Baruch was about to speak. "You both owe money to Monsieur
Maxence Gilet; who, for six years, has paid for your debauchery.
Listen, both of you, to my guardianship accounts; after that, I shall
have more to say. You will see, after these papers are read, whether
you can still trifle with me,--still trifle with family laws by
betraying the secrets of this house, and reporting to a Monsieur
Maxence Gilet what is said and what is done here. For three thousand
francs, you became spies; for ten thousand, you would, no doubt,
become assassins. You did almost kill Madame Bridau; for Monsieur
Gilet knew very well it was Fario who stabbed him when he threw the
crime upon my guest, Monsieur Joseph Bridau. If that jail-bird did so
wicked an act, it was because you told him what Madame Bridau meant to
do. You, my grandsons, the spies of such a man! You, house-breakers
and marauders! Don't you know that your worthy leader killed a poor
young woman, in 1806? I will not have assassins and thieves in my
family.
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