Few persons, however, are as conscientious as his lordship in the matter of family resemblance.

They mostly buy up their forefathers ready-made--adopt them, christen them, and ask no questions." Monsieur and Madame Tapotte exchanged glances.
"_Tiens, mon ami_, why should we not have an ancestor or two, as well as other folks," suggested the lady, in a very audible whisper.
Monsieur shook his head, and muttered something about the expense.
"There is no harm, at all events," urged madame, "in asking the price." "My charge for gallery portraits, madame, varies from sixty to a hundred francs," said Mueller.
"Heavens! how dear! Why, my own portrait is to be only fifty." "Sixty, Madame, if we put in the hands and the jewelry," said Mueller, blandly.
"_Eh bien_!--sixty.

But for these other things....

bah! _ils sont fierement chers_." "_Pardon_, madame! The elegancies and superfluities of life are, by a just rule of political economy, expensive.

It is right that they should be so; as it is right that the necessaries of life should be within the reach of the poorest.