ic handkerchief (without perfume),
gold chain, blue coat of the shade called "king's blue," with brass
buttons and a string of orders. In the morning he wore creaking boots
and gray trousers, and the short close surtout coat of the politician.
His general appearance early in the day was that of a sharp lawyer
rather than that of a ministerial officer. Eyes glazed by the constant
use of spectacles made him plainer than he really was, if by chance he
took those appendages off. To real judges of character, as well as to
upright men who are at ease only with honest natures, des Lupeaulx was
intolerable. To them, his gracious manners only draped his lies; his
amiable protestations and hackneyed courtesies, new to the foolish and
ignorant, too plainly showed their texture to an observing mind. Such
minds considered him a rotten plank, on which no foot should trust
itself.

No sooner had the beautiful Madame Rabourdin decided to interfere in
her husband's administrative advancement than she fathomed Clement des
Lupeaulx's true character, and studied him thoughtfully to discover
whether in this thin strip of deal there were ligneous fibres strong
enough to let her lightly trip across it from the bureau to the
department, from a salary of eight thousand a year to twelve thousand.
The clever woman believed she could play her own game with this
political roue; and Monsieur des Lupeaulx was partly the cause of the
unusual expenditures which now began and were continued in the Rabourdin
household.

The rue Duphot, built up under the Empire, is remarkable for several
houses with handsome exteriors, the apartments of which are skilfully
laid out. That of the Rabourdins was particularly well arranged,--a
domestic advantage which has much to do with the nobleness of private
lives. A pretty and rather wide antechamber, lighted from the courtyard,
led to the grand salon, the windows of which looked on the street. To
the right of the salon were Rabourdin's study and bedroom, and behind
them the dining-room, which was entered from the antechamber; to
the left was Madame's bedroom and dressing-room, and behind them her
daughter's little bedroom. On reception days the door of Rabourdin's
study and that of his wife's bedroom were thrown open. The rooms were
thus spacious enough to contain a select company, without the
absurdity which attends many middle-class entertainments, where
unusual preparations are made at the expense of the daily com