So she took her son's arm, and led him away, saying:
"Come, let us go."
Pascal had kept the cab which he had been using during the
afternoon; and having installed his mother inside, he got in
himself, and gave his new address to the driver. "Now tell me
all," said Madame Ferailleur.
Poor Pascal was in that state of mind in which it costs one actual
suffering to talk; but he wished to mitigate his mother's anxiety
as much as possible; and moreover, he did not like her to suppose
him wanting in endurance. So, with a powerful effort, he shook
off the lethargy that was creeping over him, and in a voice loud
enough to be heard above the noise of the carriage wheels, he
began: "This is what I have done, mother, since I left you. I
remembered that some time ago, while I was appraising some
property, I had seen three or four houses on the Route de la
Revolte, admirably suited to our present wants. Naturally I went
there first. A suite of rooms was vacant in one of these houses.
I have taken it; and in order that nothing may interfere with the
liberty of my movements, I have paid six months' rent in advance.
Here is the receipt, drawn up in the name we shall henceforth
bear." So saying, he showed his mother a document in which the
landlord declared that he had received from M. Maumejan the sum of
three hundred and fifty francs for two quarters' rent, etc. "My
bargain concluded," he resumed, "I returned into Paris, and
entered the first furniture shop I saw.
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