“Pardon my insatiable curiosity,” I said, “but ever since I was old enough to read and think I have not ceased to live with the personages of the ‘Comédie Humaine.’”
“I am glad indeed,” he courteously replied, “to be able to answer your questions. Is there anything that you still care to know?”
“What has become of the ex-minister of agriculture and commerce, the Comte Popinot, whom we called the little Anselme Popinot, in the days of the greatness and decadence of César Birotteau?”
“He followed the exiled princes to England.”
“Du Tillet is no longer in France.”
“Did he leave for political reasons?”
“Is it possible that you did not hear of his failure! He absconded one day, with the till, ruined by Jenny Cadine and Suzanne du Val-Noble.”
“Where are the children of Madame de Montsauf, that celestial creature, so justly called le Lys dans la Vallée?”
“Jacques died of consumption, leaving Madeleine sole mistress of an enormous fortune. In spite of what M. de Balzac said, I always supposed that she was secretly in love with Félix de Vandernesse. She is in that first avant-scène. She is an old maid now, but is none the less an adorable woman, and the true daughter of her mother.”