"
"Yes," said Marguerite, "but where, meantime, can we find the means of
living? The hundred thousand francs for which, you say, I must obtain
a mortgage on this house, would bring in nothing while we still live
here. The proceeds of my father's property in the country will pay the
interest on the three hundred thousand francs he owes to others; but
how are we to live?"
"In the first place," said Emmanuel, "by investing the fifty thousand
francs which belong to Gabriel in the public Funds you will get,
according to present rates, more than four thousand francs' income,
which will suffice to pay your brother's board and lodging and all his
other expenses in Paris. Gabriel cannot touch the capital until he is
of age, therefore you need not fear that he will waste a penny of it,
and you will have one expense the less. Besides, you will have your
own fifty thousand."
"My father will ask me for them," she said in a frightened tone; "and
I shall not be able to refuse him."
"Well, dear Marguerite, even so, you can evade that by robbing
yourself. Place your money in the Grand-Livre in Gabriel's name: it
will bring you twelve or thirteen thousand francs a year. Minors who
are emancipated cannot sell property without permission of the family
council; you will thus gain three years' peace of mind. By that time
your father will either have solved his problem or renounced it; and
Gabriel, then of age, will reinvest the money in your own name.
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