sed him to acquaint his mother with the
situation of affairs. The hour for informing her had arrived; he might
stand in need of her advice.

Felicite awaited, on the morrow, a disclosure which did not come. She
did not dare to confess her curiosity; but continued to feign ignorance,
though enraged at the foolish distrust of her husband, who, doubtless,
considered her a gossip, and weak like other women. Pierre, with
that marital pride which inspires a man with the belief in his own
superiority at home, had ended by attributing all their past ill-luck to
his wife. From the time that he fancied he had been conducting matters
alone everything seemed to him to have gone as he desired. He had
decided, therefore, to dispense altogether with his consort's counsels,
and to confide nothing to her, in spite of his son's recommendations.

Felicite was piqued to such a degree that she would have upset the whole
affair had she not desired the triumph as ardently as Pierre. So she
continued to work energetically for victory, while endeavouring to take
her revenge.

"Ah! if he could only have some great fright," thought she; "if he would
only commit some act of imprudence! Then I should see him come to me and
humbly ask for advice; it would be my turn to lay down the law."

She felt somewhat uneasy at the imperious attitude Pierre would
certainly assume if he were to triumph without her aid. On marrying this
peasant's son, in preference to some notary's clerk, she had intended to
make use of him as a strongly made puppet, whose strings she would pull
in her own way; and now, at the decisive moment, the puppet, in his
blind stupidity, wanted to work alone! All the cunning, all the feverish
activity within the old woman protested against this. She knew Pierre
was quite capable of some brutal resolve such as that which he had taken
when he compelled his mother to sign the receipt for fifty thousand
francs; the tool was indeed a useful and unscrupulous one; but she felt
the necessity for guiding it, especially under present circumstances,
when considerable suppleness was requisite.

The official news of the Coup d'Etat did not reach Plassans until the
afternoon of December 3--a Thursday. Already, at seven o'clock in the
evening, there was a full meeting in the yellow drawing-room. Although
the crisis had been eagerly desired, vague uneasiness appeared on the
faces of the majority. They discussed events amid endless chatter.
Pierre, w