I. How many francs had ]\Ir. Malingear offered? — He

Impcrsonal.

Exercises 137

had offered a hundred thousand or a hundred and fifty thousand, but Mr. Ratinois had offered more. 2. If he had offered five or six hundred thousand francs, I should hâve offered as many. 3. I shall write a few letters while they are out. 4. He had never practiced, because he had never had any clients. 5. Their household will need as much money as ours or the Malingears'. 6. Let's offer them something pretty. 7. He took from the table the card on which Mrs. Malingear had just written the budget of the young household. 8. Let him work more, if he needs more money. 9. He might hâve practiced, if he had had any clients. 10. What stinginess !

II. Can I not talk of the budget to you, without your losing your temper? 12. Do you know any young household that has received a larger dowry than the one we hâve given your child and mine? 13. He has no daughter who will sew on a button for him. 14. Is there any one in your family who can paint in oil? 15. Why must she hâve a third-floor apartment? If she must hâve one, let her father give a real dowry. 16. If I give only a hundred thousand francs, why must Mr. Malingear give more? 17. Ask her for the card on which she has just written the budget. 18. It is not a question of offering them a trifle. 19. Though she cannot sew on a button for her husband, she takes lessons of Duprez. She has been taking them for more than five years. 20. That's not a real dowry. Let him give a real one.

21. The Ratinois had 17,000 francs a year, while the Malingears had 22,000. 22. I sent for the steward on the fîrst of September, and he finally arrived on the fourth of October. 23. Do you think they will need twenty-one thousand francs a year? — I don't think they will. Do you? 24. How many lessons has she taken? — She has taken eighty or ninety. 25. How many francs had Mrs. Ratinois spent? — She had spent two hundred or two hundred and fifty. 26. How long ago did Uncle Robert offer you those twenty silver knives? 27. Is this the first time you hâve

138 Exercises

spoken to him of it? — Yes, and it is the last time I shall speak to him of it. 28. How long had the steward been waiting for Joséphine to admit him? — He had been waiting for more than two hours and a half. 29. It is a week since I hâve spoken to him of it. 30. Do you think they might hâve reduced the budget?

E. Sujet de composition : On discute la dot.