Such a tone was not germane either to his temperament or his habits,
and Nana was rather surprised than wounded. Besides, he was ashamed of
himself directly afterward, and when she begged him in a dry voice to
behave politely he apologized. For some time past he had suffered from
such sudden changes of temper. No one in the Paris of pleasure or of
society was ignorant of the fact that he was playing his last trump
card today. If his horses did not win, if, moreover, they lost him the
considerable sums wagered upon them, it would mean utter disaster and
collapse for him, and the bulwark of his credit and the lofty appearance
which, though undermined, he still kept up, would come ruining noisily
down. Moreover, no one was ignorant of the fact that Nana was the
devouring siren who had finished him off, who had been the last to
attack his crumbling fortunes and to sweep up what remained of them.
Stories were told of wild whims and fancies, of gold scattered to the
four winds, of a visit to Baden-Baden, where she had not left him enough
to pay the hotel bill, of a handful of diamonds cast on the fire during
an evening of drunkenness in order to see whether they would burn like
coal. Little by little her great limbs and her coarse, plebeian way of
laughing had gained complete mastery over this elegant, degenerate son
of an ancient race. At that time he was risking his all, for he had been
so utterly overpowered by his taste for ordure and stupidity as to have
even lost the vigor of his skepticism. A week before Nana had made him
promise her a chateau on the Norman coast between Havre and Trouville,
and now he was staking the very foundations of his honor on the
fulfillment of his word. Only she was getting on his nerves, and he
could have beaten her, so stupid did he feel her to be.

The man at the gate, not daring to stop the woman hanging on the count's
arm, had allowed them to enter the enclosure. Nana, greatly puffed up at
the thought that at last she was setting foot on the forbidden ground,
put on her best behavior and walked slowly by the ladies seated at
the foot of the stands. On ten rows of chairs the toilets were
densely massed, and in the blithe open air their bright colors mingled
harmoniously. Chairs were scattered about, and as people met one another
friendly circles were formed, just as though the company had been
sitting under the trees in a public garden. Children had been allowed to
go free and were runni