Honore de Balzac - At the Sign of the Cat and Racket.pdf - Bookstacks

“Does it not seem to you, Mademoiselle Augustine,” said
the assistant, and he trembled, “that the wife of a merchant
whose credit is as good as Monsieur Guillaume’s, for instance,
might enjoy herself a little more than Madame your mother
does? Might wear diamonds—or keep a carriage? For my part, if
I were to marry, I should be glad to take all the work, and see my
wife happy. I would not put her into the counting-house. In the
drapery business, you see, a woman is not so necessary now as
formerly. Monsieur Guillaume was quite right to act as he did—
and besides, his wife liked it. But so long as a woman knows how
to turn her hand to the book-keeping, the correspondence, the
retail business, the orders, and her housekeeping, so as not to sit
idle, that is enough. At seven o’clock, when the shop is shut, I
shall take my pleasures, go to the play, and into company.—But
you are not listening to me.”
“Yes, indeed, Monsieur Joseph. What do you think of
painting? That is a fine calling.”
“Yes. I know a master house-painter, Monsieur Lourdois.
He is well-to-do.”
Thus conversing, the family reached the Church of Saint-
Leu. There Madame Guillaume reasserted her rights, and, for the
first time, placed Augustine next herself, Virginie taking her
place on the fourth chair, next to Lebas. During the sermon all
went well between Augustine and Theodore, who, standing
behind a pillar, worshiped his Madonna with fervent devotion;
but at the elevation of the Host, Madame Guillaume discovered,
rather late, that her daughter Augustine was holding her prayerbook
upside down. She was about to speak to her strongly, when,
lowering her veil, she interrupted her own devotions to look in
the direction where her daughter’s eyes found attraction. By the
help of her spectacles she saw the young artist, whose
fashionable elegance seemed to proclaim him a cavalry officer on
leave rather than a tradesman of the neighborhood. It is difficult
to conceive of the state of violent agitation in which Madame
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