At
last she submitted the matter to Monsieur de Carnavant, who was entirely
of the same opinion.
"Little one," he said to her, "in politics one must know how to look
after one's self. If you were to convert your son, and the 'Independant'
were to start writing in defence of Bonapartism, it would deal the party
a rude blow. The 'Independant' has already been condemned, its title
alone suffices to enrage the middle classes of Plassans. Let dear
Aristide flounder about; this only moulds young people. He does not
appear to me to be cut out for carrying on the role of a martyr for any
length of time."
However, in her eagerness to point out the right way to her family,
now that she believed herself in possession of the truth, Felicite even
sought to convert her son Pascal. The doctor, with the egotism of a
scientist immersed in his researches, gave little heed to politics.
Empires might fall while he was making an experiment, yet he would not
have deigned to turn his head. He at last yielded, however, to certain
importunities of his mother, who accused him more than ever of living
like an unsociable churl.
"If you were to go into society," she said to him, "you would get some
well-to-do patients. Come, at least, and spend some evenings in our
drawing-room. You will make the acquaintance of Messieurs Roudier,
Granoux, and Sicardot, all gentlemen in good circumstances, who will pay
you four or five francs a visit. The poor people will never enrich you.
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