Then she shut her eyes again and looked like one dead.  A shadow of deep anguish had passed over Muffat’s brow.  Under the present stroke he had since yesterday forgotten the money troubles from which he knew not how to escape.  Despite formal promises to the contrary, the bill for a hundred thousand francs had been put in circulation after being once renewed, and Labordette, pretending to be very miserable about it, threw all the blame on Francis, declaring that he would never again mix himself up in such a matter with an uneducated man.  It was necessary to pay, for the count would never have allowed his signature to be protested.  Then in addition to Nana’s novel demands, his home expenses were extraordinarily confused.  On their return from Les Fondettes the countess had suddenly manifested a taste for luxury, a longing for worldly pleasures, which was devouring their fortune.  Her ruinous caprices began to be talked about.  Their whole household management was altered, and five hundred thousand francs were squandered in utterly transforming the old house in the Rue Miromesnil.  Then there were extravagantly magnificent gowns and large sums disappeared, squandered or perhaps given away, without her ever dreaming of accounting for them.  Twice Muffat ventured to mention this, for he was anxious to know how the money went, but on these occasions she had smiled and gazed at him with so singular an expression that he dared not interrogate her further for fear of a too-unmistakable answer.  If he were taking Daguenet as son-in-law as a gift from Nana it was chiefly with the hope of being able to reduce Estelle’s dower to two hundred thousand francs and of then being free to make any arrangements he chose about the remainder with a young man who was still rejoicing in this unexpected match.

Nevertheless, for the last week, under the immediate necessity of finding Labordette’s hundred thousand francs, Muffat had been able to hit on but one expedient, from which he recoiled.  This was that he should sell the Bordes, a magnificent property valued at half a million, which an uncle had recently left the countess.  However, her signature was necessary, and she herself, according to the terms of the deed, could not alienate the property without the count’s authorization.  The day before he had indeed resolved to talk to his wife about this signature.  And now everything was ruined; at such a moment he would never accept of such a compromise.  This reflection added bitterness to the frightful disgrace of the adultery.  He fully understood what Nana was asking for, since in that ever-growing self-abandonment which prompted him to put her in possession of all his secrets, he had complained to her of his position and had confided to her the tiresome difficulty he was in with regard to the signature of the countess.

Nana, however, did not seem to insist.  She did not open her eyes again, and, seeing her so pale, he grew frightened and made her inhale a little ether.  She gave a sigh and without mentioning Daguenet asked him some questions.