\"Don’tgiveanyhopewhatevertothatyoungPhellion。NeitheryourfathernorIcanarrangeyourmarriage。Youhaveexpectationstobeconsulted。Itismuchlessimportanttopleaseaprofessorwithoutapennythantomakesureoftheaffectionandgood—willofMademoiselleBrigitteandyourgodfather。Ifyoudon’twanttokillyourmother——
yes，mydear，killher——youmustobeymeinthisaffairblindly；andrememberthatwhatwewanttosecure，aboveall，isyourgood。\"
AsthedateofthefinalsalewassetforthelastofJuly，TheodoseadvisedBrigittebytheendofJunetoarrangeheraffairsintimetobereadyforthepayment。Accordingly，shenowsoldoutherownandhersister—in—law’spropertyintheFunds。Thecatastropheofthetreatyofthefourpowers，aninsulttoFrance，isnowanestablishedhistoricalfact；butitisnecessarytoremindthereaderthatfromJulytothelastofAugusttheFrenchfunds，alarmedbytheprospectofwar，afearwhichMonsieurThiersdidmuchtopromote，felltwentyfrancs，andtheThree—per—centswentdowntosixty。Thatwasnotall：
thisfinancialfiascohadamostunfortunateinfluenceonthevalueofrealestateinParis；andallthosewhohadsuchpropertythenforsalesufferedloss。TheseeventsmadeTheodoseaprophetintheeyesofBrigitteandThuillier，towhomthehousewasnowabouttobedefinitelysoldforseventy—fivethousandfrancs。Thenotary，involvedinthepoliticaldisaster，andwhosepracticewasalreadysold，concealedhimselfforatimeinthecountry；buthetookwithhimthetenthousandfrancsforClaparon。AdvisedbyTheodose，ThuilliermadeacontractwithGrindot，whosupposedhewasreallyworkingforthenotaryinfinishingthehouse；andas，duringthisperiodoffinancialdepression，suspendedworkleftmanyworkmenwiththeirarmsfolded，thearchitectwasabletofinishoffthebuildinginasplendidmanneratalowcost。Theodoseinsistedthattheagreementshouldbeinwriting。
ThispurchaseincreasedThuillier’simportanceten—fold。Asforthenotary，hehadtemporarilylosthisheadinpresenceofpoliticaleventswhichcameuponhimlikeawaterspoutoutofcloudlessskies。