ficed Poland and sold itself to
England. The arrondissement needed a man of such tried convictions to
represent it in the Chamber,--a man holding high and firm the banner of
dynastic opposition, a man who would be, by the mere signification of
his name, a stern lesson given to the authorities."

Enforced by an able commentary from la Peyrade, this letter was signed
by Barbet and Metivier and all Brigitte's tradesmen (whom, in view of
the election she had continued to employ since her emigration); also
by the family doctor and apothecary, and by Thuillier's builder, and
Barniol, Phellion's son-in-law, who professed to hold rather "advanced"
political opinions. As for Phellion himself, he thought the wording
of the letter not altogether circumspect, and--always without fear as
without reproach--however much he might expect that this refusal would
injure his son in his dearest interests, he bravely refrained from
signing it.

This trial kite had the happiest effect. The ten or a dozen names thus
put forward were considered to express the will of the electors and were
called "the voice of the quarter." Thus Thuillier's candidacy made
from the start such rapid progress that Minard hesitated to put his own
claims in opposition.

Delighted now with the course of events, Brigitte was the first to say
that the time had come to attend to the marriage, and Thuillier was all
the more ready to agree because, from day to day, he feared he might be
called upon to pay the twenty-five thousand francs to Madame Lambert
for which he had pledged himself. A thorough explanation now took place
between la Peyrade and the old maid. She told him honestly of the
fear she felt as to the maintenance of her sovereign authority when a
_son-in-law_ of his mind and character was established in the household.

"If we," she ended by saying, "are to oppose each other for the rest
of our days, it would be much better, from the beginning, to make two
households; we shouldn't be the less friends for that."

La Peyrade replied that nothing under the sun would induce him to
consent to such a plan; on the contrary, he regarded as amongst his
happiest prospects for the future the security he should feel about the
wise management of the material affairs of the home in such hands
as hers. He should have enough to do in the management of outside
interests, and he could not comprehend, for his part, how she could
suppose he had ever had the thought of interfer