He would not take that brilliant creature away
till she had won the reward of her work--happiness! No!--something
tells me this news is false!--she cannot be dead! But I will start
for Rome to-night."
He returned to the cheap pension where he had his room, and at once
packed his valise. With all his fame he was extremely poor; he had
for the most part refused to take payment for his books and
pamphlets which had been so freely spread through France, preferring
to work for his daily bread in the fields of an extensive farm near
his birthplace in Touraine. He had begun there as a little lad,
earning his livelihood by keeping the birds away from the crops--and
had steadily risen by degrees, through his honesty and diligence, to
the post of superintendent or bailiff of the whole concern. No one
was more trusted than he by his employers,--no one more worthy of
trust. But his wages were by no means considerable,--and though he
saved as much as he could, and lived on the coarsest fare, it was a
matter of some trouble for him to spare the money to take him from
Paris to Rome. What cash he had, he carried about him in a leathern
bag, and this he now emptied on the table to estimate the strength
of his finances.
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