Theresultofhisinterviewwithhisassailantwassoonapparent。
ThoughGoupilhadconcludedhisbargainwiththesheriffthenightbefore，henowimpudentlyrefusedtofulfilit。
“MydearLecoeur，“hesaid，“IamunexpectedlyenabledtobuyupMonsieurDionis’spractice；Iamthereforeinapositiontohelpyoutoselltoothers。Tearuptheagreement；it’sonlythelossoftwostamps，——hereareseventycentimes。“
LecoeurwastoomuchafraidofGoupiltocomplain。AllNemoursknewbeforenightthatMinorethadgivenDionissecuritytoenableGoupiltobuyhispractice。ThelatterwrotetoSaviniendenyinghischargesagainstMinoret，andtellingtheyoungnoblemanthatinhisnewpositionhewasforbiddenbytherulesofthesupremecourt，andalsobyhisrespectforlaw，tofightaduel。ButhewarnedSavinientotreathimwellinfuture；assuringhimhewasacapitalboxer，andwouldbreakhislegatthefirstoffence。
ThewallsofNemourswereclearedoftheinscription；butthequarrelbetweenMinoretandhiswifewenton；andSavinienmaintainedathreateningsilence。TendaysaftertheseeventsthemarriageofMademoiselleMassin，theelder，tothefuturenotarywasbruitedaboutthetown。MademoiselleMassinhadadowryofeightythousandfrancsandherownpeculiarugliness；Goupilhadhisdeformitiesandhispractice；theunionthereforeseemedsuitableandprobable。Oneevening，towardsmidnight，twounknownmenseizedGoupilinthestreetashewasleavingMassin’shouse，gavehimasoundbeating，anddisappeared。Thenotarykeptthematteraprofoundsecret，andevencontradictedanoldwomanwhosawthescenefromherwindowandthoughtthatsherecognizedhim。