It was precisely in consequence of
these evil reports that Pierre turned his batteries in this direction.
No well-to-do trader would have given him his daughter. He meant to
appear on the scene at the very moment when old Puech should no longer
know which way to turn; he would then purchase Felicite of him, and
re-establish the credit of the house by his own energy and intelligence.
It was a clever expedient for ascending the first rung of the social
ladder, for raising himself above his station. Above all things, he
wished to escape from that frightful Faubourg where everybody reviled
his family, and to obliterate all these foul legends, by effacing even
the very name of the Fouques' enclosure. For that reason the filthy
streets of the old quarter seemed to him perfect paradise. There, only,
he would be able to change his skin.
The moment which he had been awaiting soon arrived. The firm of Puech
and Lacamp seemed to be at the last gasp. The young man then negotiated
the match with prudent skill. He was received, if not as a deliverer, at
least as a necessary and acceptable expedient. The marriage agreed upon,
he turned his attention to the sale of the ground. The owner of the
Jas-Meiffren, desiring to enlarge his estate, had made him repeated
offers. A low, thin, party-wall alone separated the two estates. Pierre
speculated on the eagerness of his wealthy neighbour, who, to gratify
his caprice, offered as much as fifty thousand francs for the land.
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