"
"Well, you must have been terribly cheated."
You know very well that if there is a cheat in the world, it is
this same man; but what can you say? Any other dealer you might
send for would act in the same way. Now, Madame Ferailleur's
furniture had cost some ten thousand francs; and, although it was
no longer new, it was worth at least a third of that sum. But she
obtained only seven hundred and sixty francs for it. It is true,
however, that she was in haste, and that she was paid cash.
Nine o'clock was striking when her trunks were at last piled on a
cab, and she called out to the driver: "Take me to the Place du
Havre--to the railway station." Once before, when defrauded by a
scoundrel, she had been obliged to part with all her household
treasures. Once before she had left her home, taking merely the
wreck of her fortune with her. But what a difference between then
and now!
Then, the esteem and sympathy of all who knew her was hers, and
the admiring praise she received divested the sacrifice of much of
its bitterness, and increased her courage two-fold. Now, she was
flying secretly, and alone, under an assumed name, trembling at
the thought of pursuit or recognition--flying as a criminal flies
at thought of his crime, and fear of punishment. She had far less
suffered on the day, when, with her son upon her knees, she
journeyed to the cemetery, following all that was mortal of the
man who had been her only thought, her love, her pride, her
happiness, and hope.
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