."

And turning towards Mathieu he added, "There are three of us, and, as
I have said before, that is quite enough for a man to provide for,
especially as money is so hard to earn."

III

AT the works during the afternoon Mathieu, who wished to be free earlier
than usual in order that, before dining in town, he might call upon his
landlord, in accordance with his promise to Marianne, found himself so
busy that he scarcely caught sight of Beauchene. This was a relief, for
the secret which he had discovered by chance annoyed him, and he feared
lest he might cause his employer embarrassment. But the latter, when
they exchanged a few passing words, did not seem to remember even that
there was any cause for shame on his part. He had never before shown
himself more active, more devoted to business. The fatigue he had felt
in the morning had passed away, and he talked and laughed like one who
finds life very pleasant, and has no fear whatever of hard work.

As a rule Mathieu left at six o'clock; but that day he went into
Morange's office at half-past five to receive his month's salary. This
rightly amounted to three hundred and fifty francs; but as five hundred
had been advanced to him in January, which he paid back by instalments
of fifty, he now received only fifteen louis, and these he pocketed with
such an air of satisfaction that the accountant commented on it.

"Well," said the young fellow, "the money's welcome, for I left my wife
with just thirty sous this morning."

It was already more than six o'clock when he found himself outside the
superb house which the Seguin du Hordel family occupied in the Avenue
d'Antin. Seguin's grandfather had been a mere tiller of the soil at
Janville. Later on, his father, as a contractor for the army, had made a
considerable fortune. And he, son of a parvenu, led the life of a
rich, elegant idler. He was a member of the leading clubs, and,
while passionately fond of horses, affected also a taste for art and
literature, going for fashion's sake to extreme opinions. He had proudly
married an almost portionless girl of a very ancient aristocratic race,
the last of the Vaugelades, whose blood was poor and whose mind was
narrow. Her mother, an ardent Catholic, had only succeeded in making of
her one who, while following religious practices, was eager for the
joys of the world. Seguin, since his marriage, had likewise practised
religion, because it was fashionable to do so. His pea