Those bloodstained bourgeois offended his feelings of delicacy, and moreover his relative, the Count de Valqueyras, had begged him to withdraw from public notice for a little time.

Monsieur de Carnavant's refusal vexed the Rougons; but Felicite consoled herself by resolving to make a more profuse display.

She hired a pair of candelabra and ordered several additional dishes as a kind of substitute for the marquis.

The table was laid in the yellow drawing-room, in order to impart more solemnity to the occasion.

The Hotel de Provence had supplied the silver, the china, and the glass.