The Berrichon sees the correctness of the calculation, but he answers, "Think of the gossip, monsieur." "Gossip, what do you mean ?" "Well, yes, what would people say of me ?" "He would be the talk of the neighborhood," said the owner of the property on which this scene took place; "they would think him as rich as a tradesman.

He is afraid of public opinion, afraid of being pointed at, afraid of seeming ill or feeble.

That's how we all are in this region." Many of the bourgeoisie utter this phrase with feelings of inward pride.
While ignorance and custom are invincible in the country regions, where the peasants are left very much to themselves, the town of Issoudun itself has reached a state of complete social stagnation.

Obliged to meet the decadence of fortunes by the practice of sordid economy, each family lives to itself.

Moreover, society is permanently deprived of that distinction of classes which gives character to manners and customs.