nt to pull the
chestnuts out of the fire for _them_! So stay quietly at home, you
foolish fellow, sleep comfortably, eat well, make money, keep an easy
conscience, and leave France to free herself of the Empire if the Empire
annoys her. France can get on very well without _you_."

She laughed her bright melodious laugh as she finished; and Quenu was
now altogether convinced. Yes, she was right, after all; and she looked
so charming, he thought, as she sat there on the edge of the bed, so
trim, although it was so early, so bright, and so fresh in the dazzling
whiteness of her linen. As he listened to her his eyes fell on their
portraits hanging on either side of the fireplace. Yes, they were
certainly honest folks; they had such a respectable, well-to-do air in
their black clothes and their gilded frames! The bedroom, too, looked
as though it belonged to people of some account in the world. The lace
squares seemed to give a dignified appearance to the chairs; and
the carpet, the curtains, and the vases decorated with painted
landscapes--all spoke of their exertions to get on in the world and
their taste for comfort. Thereupon he plunged yet further beneath the
eider-down quilt, which kept him in a state of pleasant warmth. He
began to feel that he had risked losing all these things at Monsieur
Lebigre's--his huge bed, his cosy room, and his business, on which
his thoughts now dwelt with tender remorse. And from Lisa, from the
furniture, from all his cosy surroundings, he derived a sense of comfort
which thrilled him with a delightful, overpowering charm.

"You foolish fellow!" said his wife, seeing that he was now quite
conquered. "A pretty business it was that you'd embarked upon; but you'd
have had to reckon with Pauline and me, I can tell you! And now don't
bother your head any more about the Government. To begin with, all
Governments are alike, and if we didn't have this one, we should have
another. A Government is necessary. But the one thing is to be able to
live on, to spend one's savings in peace and comfort when one grows old,
and to know that one has gained one's means honestly."

Quenu nodded his head in acquiescence, and tried to commence a
justification of his conduct.

"It was Gavard--," he began.

But Lisa's face again assumed a serious expression, and she interrupted
him sharply.

"No, it was not Gavard. I know very well who it was; and it would be
a great deal better if he would look after his own