It thus became known in Besancon that
Mademoiselle de Watteville had positively refused the Comte de Soulas.
After their marriage Mariette and Jerome came to les Rouxey to succeed
to Modinier in due time. The Baron restored and repaired the house to
suit his daughter's taste. When she heard that these improvements had
cost about sixty thousand francs, and that Rosalie and her father were
building a conservatory, the Baroness understood that there was a
leaven of spite in her daughter. The Baron purchased various outlying
plots, and a little estate worth thirty thousand francs. Madame de
Watteville was told that, away from her, Rosalie showed masterly
qualities, that she was taking steps to improve the value of les
Rouxey, that she had treated herself to a riding habit and rode about;
her father, whom she made very happy, who no longer complained of his
health, and who was growing fat, accompanied her in her expeditions.
As the Baroness' name-day grew near--her name was Louise--the
Vicar-General came one day to les Rouxey, deputed, no doubt, by Madame
de Watteville and Monsieur de Soulas, to negotiate a peace between
mother and daughter.
"That little Rosalie has a head on her shoulders," said the folk of
Besancon.
After handsomely paying up the ninety thousand francs spent on les
Rouxey, the Baroness allowed her husband a thousand francs a month to
live on; she would not put herself in the wrong.
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