One day he might be stricken with apoplexy and leave his widow without resources, and his two daughters without a dowry.

He sometimes thought of all this as he filled his pipe, and it was not pleasant.
If M.Gerard grew gloomy as he grew older, M.Violette became mournful.
He was more than forty years old now.

What a decline! Does grief make the years count double?
The widower was a mere wreck.

His rebellious lock of hair had become a dirty gray, and always hung over his right eye, and he no longer took the trouble to toss it behind his ear.

His hands trembled and he felt his memory leaving him.