been taken aback by the noise in the
streets, by the luxuriously dressed windows, and this narrow gallery,
this modest shop front, recalled her former place of business which was
so peaceful. She could fancy herself again in the provinces, and she
drew a long breath thinking that her dear children would be happy in
this out-of-the-way corner. The low price asked for the business, caused
her to make up her mind. The owner sold it her for 2,000 francs, and the
rent of the shop and first floor was only 1,200 francs a year. Madame
Raquin, who had close upon 4,000 francs saved up, calculated that she
could pay for the business and settle the rent for the first year,
without encroaching on her fortune. The salary Camille would be
receiving, and the profit on the mercery business would suffice, she
thought, to meet the daily expenses; so that she need not touch the
income of her funded money, which would capitalise, and go towards
providing marriage portions for her grandchildren.

She returned to Vernon beaming with pleasure, relating that she had
found a gem, a delightful little place right in the centre of Paris.
Little by little, at the end of a few days, in her conversations of
an evening, the damp, obscure shop in the arcade became a palace; she
pictured it to herself, so far as her memory served her, as convenient,
spacious, tranquil, and replete with a thousand inestimable advantages.

"Ah! my dear Therese," said she, "you will see how happy we shall be in
that nook! There are three beautiful rooms upstairs. The arcade is
full of people. We will make charming displays. There is no fear of our
feeling dull."

But she did not stop there. All her instinct of a former shopkeeper
was awakened. She gave advice to Therese, beforehand, as to buying and
selling, and posted her up in all the tricks of small tradespeople.
At length, the family quitted the house beside the Seine, and on the
evening of the same day, were installed in the Arcade of the Pont Neuf.

When Therese entered the shop, where in future she was to live, it
seemed to her that she was descending into the clammy soil of a grave.
She felt quite disheartened, and shivered with fear. She looked at the
dirty, damp gallery, visited the shop, and ascending to the first floor,
walked round each room. These bare apartments, without furniture, looked
frightful in their solitude and dilapidation. The young woman could
not make a gesture, or utter a word. She was as if