The inattention of Pere Grandet, or, to speak more truly, thepreoccupation of mind into which the reading of the letter had plungedhim, did not escape the vigilance of the notary and the president, whotried to guess the contents of the letter by the almost imperceptiblemotions of the miser's face, which was then under the full light ofthe candle. He maintained the habitual calm of his features withevident difficulty; we may, in fact, picture to ourselves thecountenance such a man endeavored to preserve as he read the fatalletter which here follows:,
My Brother,,It is almost twenty-three years since we have seen
each other. My marriage was the occasion of our last interview,
after which we parted, and both of us were happy. Assuredly I wig for baby
could not then foresee that you would one day be the prop of the wig fashion
family whose prosperity you then predicted. wig for baby
When you hold this letter within your hands I shall be no longer
living. In the position I now hold I cannot survive the disgrace
of bankruptcy. I have waited on the edge of the gulf until the
last moment, hoping to save myself. The end has come, I must sink