Four years later she had a second child, which was likewise taken in by Lantier's mother.

This time Macquart shut his eyes altogether.

And when Fine timidly suggested that it was time to come to some understanding with the tanner, in order to end a state of things which made people chatter, he flatly declared that his daughter should not leave him, and that he would give her to her lover later on, "when he was worthy of her, and had enough money to furnish a home." This was a fine time for Antoine Macquart.

He dressed like a gentleman, in frock-coats and trousers of the finest cloth.

Cleanly shaved, and almost fat, he was no longer the emaciated ragged vagabond who had been wont to frequent the taverns.