Several years previously, no doubt, he had offered Seguin the enclosure
for a trifle; but times had changed, and he now crowed loudly over the
other's folly in not entertaining his previous offer.
On the other hand, there seemed little likelihood of his turning the
enclosure to account himself, for he was more disgusted than ever with
the tilling of the soil. His disposition had been further embittered by
the birth of a daughter, whom he would willingly have dispensed with,
anxious as he was with respect to his son Antonin, now a lad of twelve,
who proved so sharp and quick at school that he was regarded by the folks
of Janville as a little prodigy. Mathieu had mortally offended the father
and mother by suggesting that Antonin should be sent to an agricultural
college--a very sensible suggestion, but one which exasperated them,
determined as they were to make him a gentleman.
As Lepailleur would not part with his enclosure on any reasonable terms,
Seguin had to content himself for the time with selling Mathieu the
selected marshland on the plateau. A deed of conveyance having been
prepared, they exchanged signatures. And then, on Seguin's hands, there
still remained nearly two hundred and fifty acres of woods in the
direction of Lillebonne, together with the moorlands stretching to
Vieux-Bourg, in which Lepailleur's few acres were enclosed.
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