the bourgeois, the "civilian," fully equal to
the contempt of nobles for their serfs, or conquerors for the
conquered. Such men did not always observe the laws of honor in their
dealings with civilians; nor did they much blame those who rode
rough-shod over the bourgeoisie. The others, and particularly the
artillery, perhaps because of its republicanism, never adopted the
doctrine of a military France and a civil France, the tendency of which
was nothing less than to make two nations. So, although Major Potel and
Captain Renard, two officers living in the Rome suburb, were friends to
Maxence Gilet "through thick and thin," Major Mignonnet and Captain
Carpentier took sides with the bourgeoisie, and thought his conduct
unworthy of a man of honor.

Major Mignonnet, a lean little man, full of dignity, busied himself
with the problems which the steam-engine requires us to solve, and
lived in a modest way, taking his social intercourse with Monsieur and
Madame Carpentier. His gentle manners and ways, and his scientific
occupations won him the respect of the whole town; and it was
frequently said of him and of Captain Carpentier that they were "quite
another thing" from Major Potel and Captain Renard, Maxence, and other
frequenters of the cafe Militaire, who retained the soldierly manners
and the defective morals of the Empire.

At the time when Madame Bridau returned to Issoudun, Max was excluded
from the society of the place. He showed, moreover, proper
self-respect in never presenting himself at the club, and in never
complaining of the severe reprobation that was shown him; although he
was the handsomest, the most elegant, and the best dressed man in the
place, spent a great deal of money, and kept a horse,--a thing as
amazing at Issoudun as the horse of Lord Byron at Venice. We are now
to see how it was that Maxence, poor and without apparent means, was
able to become the dandy of the town. The shameful conduct which
earned him the contempt of all scrupulous or religious persons was
connected with the interests which brought Agathe and Joseph to
Issoudun.

Judging by the audacity of his bearing, and the expression of his
face, Max cared little for public opinion; he expected, no doubt, to
take his revenge some day, and to lord it over those who now condemned
him. Moreover, if the bourgeoisie of Issoudun thought ill of him, the
admiration he excited among the common people counterbalanced their
opinion; his courage, hi