Having given his orders, Denis now came to join his father, and proposed
to him that they should go on foot to the Avenue d'Antin. On the way he
warned him that they would certainly find Ambroise alone, for his wife
and four children were still at Dieppe, where, indeed, the two
sisters-in-law, Andree and Marthe, had spent the season together.
In a period of ten years, Ambroise's fortune had increased tenfold.
Though he was barely five-and-forty, he reigned over the Paris market.
With his spirit of enterprise, he had greatly enlarged the business left
him by old Du Hordel, transforming it into a really universal _comptoir_,
through which passed merchandise from all parts of the world. Frontiers
did not exist for Ambroise, he enriched himself with the spoils of the
earth, particularly striving to extract from the colonies all the wealth
they were able to yield, and carrying on his operations with such
triumphant audacity, such keen perception, that the most hazardous of his
campaigns ended victoriously.
A man of this stamp, whose fruitful activity was ever winning battles,
was certain to devour the idle, impotent Seguins. In the downfall of
their fortune, the dispersal of the home and family, he had carved a
share for himself by securing possession of the house in the Avenue
d'Antin.
Pages:
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734