Still she was a long way from really knowing her
Rougon; she thought him far stupider than he was. A few days after her
marriage, as she was by chance fumbling in the drawer of a secretaire,
she came across the receipt for fifty thousand francs which Adelaide
had signed. At sight of it she understood things, and felt rather
frightened; her own natural average honesty rendered her hostile to such
expedients. Her terror, however, was not unmixed with admiration; Rougon
became in her eyes a very smart fellow.
The young couple bravely sought to conquer fortune. The firm of Puech
& Lacamp was not, after all, so embarrassed as Pierre had thought. Its
liabilities were small, it was merely in want of ready-money. In the
provinces, traders adopt prudent courses to save them from serious
disasters. Puech & Lacamp were prudent to an excessive degree; they
never risked a thousand crowns without the greatest fear, and thus their
house, a veritable hole, was an unimportant one. The fifty thousand
francs that Pierre brought into it sufficed to pay the debts and extend
the business. The beginnings were good. During three successive years
the olive harvest was an abundant one. Felicite, by a bold stroke which
absolutely frightened both Pierre and old Puech, made them purchase
a considerable quantity of oil, which they stored in their warehouse.
During the following years, as the young woman had foreseen, the crops
failed, and a considerable rise in prices having set in, they realised
large profits by selling out their stock.
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