Antonin, however, had also begun to laugh with the air of an artful idler
who was more particularly attracted by the free dissipation of Paris
life. "Oh! minister?" said he, "I haven't much taste for that. I would
much sooner win a million at once so as to rest afterwards."
Delighted with this display of wit, the Lepailleurs burst into noisy
merriment. Oh! their boy would do great things, that was quite certain!
Marianne, her heart oppressed by thought of the mourning which awaited
her, had hitherto kept silent. She now asked, however, why little Therese
did not form one of the party. Lepailleur dryly replied that he did not
choose to embarrass himself with a child but six years old, who did not
know how to behave. Her arrival had upset everything in the house; things
would have been much better if she had never been born. Then, as Marianne
began to protest, saying that she had seldom seen a more intelligent and
prettier little girl, Madame Lepailleur answered more gently: "Oh! she's
sharp; that's true enough; but one can't send girls to Paris. She'll have
to be put somewhere, and it will mean a lot of trouble, a lot of money.
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