Morange at last looked up from the glowing embers, at which he had been
staring so fixedly.
"Well, what do you want to do with him?" he inquired. "Does he write a
decent hand?"
"Yes, his handwriting is good. No doubt, however, he knows very little.
It is for that reason that I wish to intrust him to you. You will polish
him up for me and make him conversant with everything. My desire is that
in a year or two he should know everything about the factory, like a
master."
At that last word which enlightened him, the accountant's good sense
suddenly awoke. Amid the manias which were wrecking his mind, he had
remained a man of figures with a passion for arithmetical accuracy, and
he protested.
"Well, madame, since you wish me to assist you, pray tell me everything;
tell me in what work we can employ this young man here. Really now, you
surely cannot hope through him to regain possession of the factory,
re-purchase the shares, and become sole owner of the place?"
Then, with the greatest logic and clearness, he showed how foolish such a
dream would be, enumerating figures and fully setting forth how large a
sum of money would be needed to indemnify Denis, who was installed in the
place like a conqueror.
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