in religious ecstasies, accompanied by the old stammering utterances, the old prayers and despairs, the old fits of humility which befit an accursed creature who is crushed beneath the mire whence he sprang.  In the recesses of churches, his knees chilled by the pavement, he would once more experience the delights of the past, and his muscles would twitch, and his brain would whirl deliciously, and the satisfaction of the obscure necessities of his existence would be the same as of old.

On the evening of the final rupture Mignon presented himself at the house in the Avenue de Villiers.  He was growing accustomed to Fauchery and was beginning at last to find the presence of his wife’s husband infinitely advantageous to him.  He would leave all the little household cares to the journalist and would trust him in the active superintendence of all their affairs.  Nay, he devoted the money gained by his dramatic successes to the daily expenditure of the family, and as, on his part, Fauchery behaved sensibly, avoiding ridiculous jealousy and proving not less pliant than Mignon himself whenever Rose found her opportunity, the mutual understanding between the two men constantly improved.  In fact, they were happy in a partnership which was so fertile in all kinds of amenities, and they settled down side by side and adopted a family arrangement which no longer proved a stumbling block.  The whole thing was conducted according to rule; it suited admirably, and each man vied with the other in his efforts for the common happiness.  That very evening Mignon had come by Fauchery’s advice to see if he could not steal Nana’s lady’s maid from her, the journalist having formed a high opinion of the woman’s extraordinary intelligence.  Rose was in despair; for a month past she had been falling into the hands of inexperienced girls who were causing her continual embarrassment.  When Zoe received him at the door he forthwith pushed her into the dining room.  But at his opening sentence she smiled.  The thing was impossible, she said, for she was leaving Madame and establishing herself on her own account.  And she added with an expression of discreet vanity that she was daily receiving offers, that the ladies were fighting for her and that Mme Blanche would give a pile of gold to have her back.

Zoe was taking the Tricon’s establishment.  It was an old project and had been long brooded over.  It was her ambition to make her fortune thereby, and she was investing all her savings in it.  She was full of great ideas and meditated increasing the business and hiring a house and combining all the delights within its walls.  It was with this in view that she had tried to entice Satin, a little pig at that moment dying in hospital, so terribly had she done for herself.

Mignon still insisted with his offer and spoke of the risks run in the commercial life, but Zoe, without entering into explanations about the exact nature of her establishment, smiled a pinched smile, as though she had just put a sweetmeat in her mouth, and was content to remark: