p. The young man then negotiated
the match with prudent skill. He was received, if not as a deliverer, at
least as a necessary and acceptable expedient. The marriage agreed upon,
he turned his attention to the sale of the ground. The owner of the
Jas-Meiffren, desiring to enlarge his estate, had made him repeated
offers. A low, thin, party-wall alone separated the two estates. Pierre
speculated on the eagerness of his wealthy neighbour, who, to gratify
his caprice, offered as much as fifty thousand francs for the land. It
was double its value. Pierre, whoever, with the craftiness of a peasant,
pulled a long face, and said that he did not care to sell; that his
mother would never consent to get rid of the property where the Fouques
had lived from father to son for nearly two centuries. But all the time
that he was seemingly holding back he was really making preparations for
the sale. Certain doubts had arisen in his mind. According to his own
brutal logic, the property belonged to him; he had the right to dispose
of it as he chose. Beneath this assurance, however, he had vague
presentiments of legal complications. So he indirectly consulted a
lawyer of the Faubourg.

He learnt some fine things from him. According to the lawyer, his hands
were completely tied. His mother alone could alienate the property, and
he doubted whether she would. But what he did not know, what came as a
heavy blow to him, was that Ursule and Antoine, those young wolves,
had claims on the estate. What! they would despoil him, rob him, the
legitimate child! The lawyer's explanations were clear and precise,
however; Adelaide, it is true, had married Rougon under the common
property system; but as the whole fortune consisted of land, the young
woman, according to law, again came into possession of everything at her
husband's death. Moreover, Macquart and Adelaide had duly acknowledged
their children when declaring their birth for registration, and thus
these children were entitled to inherit from their mother. For
sole consolation, Pierre learnt that the law reduced the share of
illegitimate children in favour of the others. This, however, did not
console him at all. He wanted to have everything. He would not have
shared ten sous with Ursule and Antoine.

This vista of the intricacies of the Code opened up a new horizon, which
he scanned with a singularly thoughtful air. He soon recognised that
a shrewd man must always keep the law on his side. And