He learned that the servants
did not even know his name. They called him "monsieur." Ludovic
always spoke of him in the same way: "You will tell monsieur. Has
monsieur arrived?" Why that mysterious appellation?
Moreover, after their first outburst of enthusiasm, the Imberts
seldom spoke to him, and, although treating him with the
consideration due to a benefactor, they gave him little or no
attention. They appeared to regard him as an eccentric character
who did not like to be disturbed, and they respected his isolation
as if it were a stringent rule on his part. On one occasion, while
passing through the vestibule, he heard Madame Imbert say to the
two gentlemen:
"He is such a barbarian!"
"Very well," he said to himself, "I am a barbarian."
And, without seeking to solve the question of their strange
conduct, he proceeded with the execution of his own plans. He had
decided that he could not depend on chance, nor on the negligence
of Madame Imbert, who carried the key of the safe, and who, on
locking the safe, invariably scattered the letters forming the
combination of the lock. Consequently, he must act for himself.
Finally, an incident precipitated matters; it was the vehement
campaign instituted against the Imberts by certain newspapers that
accused the Imberts of swindling.
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