Madame
Desvarennes going toward the door, he made an effort to detain her.

"Where are you going, Madame?" he inquired, with anxiety.

The mistress gave him a look that terrified him, and answered:

"I am going to square accounts with the Prince."

And, passing through the door leading to the little staircase, Madame
Desvarennes went up to her son-in-law's rooms.

CHAPTER XXII. THE MOTHER'S REVENGE

On leaving Herzog, Serge had turned his steps toward the Rue
Saint-Dominique. He had delayed the moment of going home as long as
possible, but the streets were beginning to be crowded. He might meet
some people of his acquaintance. He resolved to face what ever reception
was awaiting him on the way, he was planning what course he should adopt
to bring about a reconciliation with his redoubtable mother-in-law. He
was no longer proud, but felt quite broken down. Only Madame Desvarennes
could put him on his feet again; and, as cowardly in trouble as he had
been insolent in prosperity, he accepted beforehand all that she
might impose upon him; all, provided that she would cover him with her
protection.

He was frightened, not knowing how deep Herzog had led him in the mire.
His moral sense had disappeared, but he had a vague instinct of the
danger he had incurred. The financier's last words came to his mind:
"Confess all to your wife; she can get you out of this difficulty!"
He understood the meaning of them, and resolved to follow the advice.
Micheline loved him. In appealing to her heart, deeply wounded as it
was, he would have in her an ally, and he had long known that Madame
Desvarennes could not oppose her daughter in anything.

He entered the house through the back garden gate, and regained his
room without making the slightest noise. He dreaded meeting Madame
Desvarennes before seeing Micheline. First he changed his attire; he
had walked about Paris in evening clothes. Looking in the glass he was
surprised at the alteration in his features. Was his beauty going too?
What would become of him if he failed to please. And, like an actor
who is about to play an important part, he paid great attention to the
making up of his face. He wished once more to captivate his wife, as his
safety depended on the impression he was about to make on her. At last,
satisfied with himself, he tried to look smiling, and went to his wife's
room.

Micheline was up.

At the sight of Serge she could not suppress an exclamation of