cquard, whose gallant adventures surpassed those
of the mistress of the Grand-I-Vert, sat there, enthroned, dressed
in the last fashion. She affected the style of a sultana, and wore a
turban. Sultanas, under the Empire, enjoyed a vogue equal to that of the
"angel" of to-day. The whole valley took pattern from the turbans,
the poke-bonnets, the fur caps, the Chinese head-gear of the handsome
Socquard, to whose luxury the big-wigs of Soulanges contributed. With a
waist beneath her arm-pits, after the fashion of our mothers, who were
proud of their imperial graces, Junie (she was named Junie!) made the
fortune of the house of Socquard. Her husband owed to her the ownership
of a vineyard, of the house they lived in, and also the Tivoli. The
father of Monsieur Lupin was said to have committed some follies for
the handsome Madame Socquard; and Gaubertin, who had taken her from him,
certainly owed him the little Bournier.

These details, together with the deep mystery with which Socquard
manufactured his boiled wine, are sufficient to explain why his name and
that of the Cafe de la Paix were popular; but there were other reasons
for their renown. Nothing better than wine could be got at Tonsard's and
the other taverns in the valley; from Conches to Ville-aux-Fayes, in
a circumference of twenty miles, the Cafe Socquard was the only place
where the guests could play billiards and drink the punch so admirably
concocted by the proprietor. There alone could be found a display of
foreign wines, fine liqueurs, and brandied fruits. Its name resounded
daily throughout the valley, accompanied by ideas of superfine sensual
pleasures such as men whose stomachs are more sensitive than their
hearts dream about. To all these causes of popularity was added that of
being an integral part of the great festival of Soulanges. The Cafe de
la Paix was to the town, in a superior degree, what the tavern of the
Grand-I-Vert was to the peasantry,--a centre of venom; it was the point
of contact and transmission between the gossip of Ville-aux-Fayes and
that of the valley. The Grand-I-Vert supplied the milk and the Cafe
de la Paix the cream, and Tonsard's two daughters were in daily
communication between the two.

To Socquard's mind the square of Soulanges was merely an appendage to
his cafe. Hercules went from door to door, talking with this one and
that one, and wearing in summer no other garment than a pair of trousers
and a half-buttoned waistcoat.