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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: which remains an impenetrable secret, but the wife sank even lower in
the husband's eyes. As soon as he became so ill that he was obliged to
take to his bed, he manifested his aversion for the Countess and the
two youngest children. He forbade them to enter his room, and any
attempt to disobey his wishes brought on such dangerous attacks that
the doctor implored the Countess to submit to her husband's wish.
"Mme. de Restaud had seen the family estates and property, nay, the
very mansion in which she lived, pass into the hands of Gobseck, who
appeared to play the fantastic ogre so far as their wealth was
concerned. She partially understood what her husband was doing, no
doubt. M. de Trailles was traveling in England (his creditors had been
 Gobseck |