Rousselet
had summarily dismissed him. Even before this was known his return home
did not fail to make his father growl. The miller partially guessed
the truth, and if he did not openly vent his anger, it was solely from
pride, in order that he might not have to confess his mistake with
respect to the brilliant career which he had predicted for Antonin. At
home, when the doors were closed, Lepailleur revenged himself on
his wife, picking the most frightful quarrels with her since he had
discovered her frequent remittances of money to their son. But she held
her own against him, for even as she had formerly admired him, so at
present she admired her boy. She sacrificed, as it were, the father to
the son, now that the latter's greater learning brought her increased
surprise. And so the household was all disagreement as a result of
that foolish attempt, born of vanity, to make their heir a Monsieur, a
Parisian. Antonin for his part sneered and shrugged his shoulders at
it all, idling away his time pending the day when he might be able to
resume a life of profligacy.

When the Froments passed by, it was a fine sight to see the Lepailleurs
standing there stiffly and devouring them with their eyes. The father
puckered his lips in an attempt to sneer, and the mother jerked her head
with an air of bravado. The son, standing there with his hands in his
pockets, presented a sorry sight with his bent back, his bald head, and
pale face. All three were seeking to devise something disagreeable when
an opportunity presented itself.

"Why, where is Therese?" exclaimed La Lepailleur. "She was here just
now: what has become of her? I won't have her leave me when there are
all these people about!"

It was quite true, for the last moment Therese had disappeared. She was
now ten years old and very pretty, quite a plump little blonde, with
wild hair and black eyes which shone brightly. But she had a terribly
impulsive and wilful nature, and would run off and disappear for hours
at a time, beating the hedges and scouring the countryside in search of
birds'-nests and flowers and wild fruit. If her mother, however, made
such a display of alarm, darting hither and thither to find her, just
as the Froments passed by, it was because she had become aware of some
scandalous proceedings during the previous week. Therese's ardent dream
was to possess a bicycle, and she desired one the more since her parents
stubbornly refused to content her, decla