"Monsieur de la Peyrade is one of the most virtuous young men I have ever met.
People know what I think of Felix; well, I put the two on the same line; indeed, I wish my son had a little more of Monsieur de la Peyrade's beautiful piety." "You are right; he is a man of great merit, who is sure to succeed," said Minard.

"As for me, my suffrages--for I really ought not to say protection--are his." "He pays more for oil than for bread," said Dutocq.

"I know that." "His mother, if he has the happiness to still possess her, must be proud of him," remarked Madame Thuillier, sententiously.
"He is a real treasure for us," said Thuillier.

"If you only knew how modest he is! He doesn't do himself justice." "I can answer for one thing," added Dutocq; "no young man ever maintained a nobler attitude in poverty; he triumphed over it; but he suffered--it is easy to see that." "Poor young man!" cried Zelie.

"Such things make my heart ache!" "Any one could safely trust both secrets and fortune to him," said Thuillier; "and in these days that is the finest thing that can be said of a man." "It is Colleville who is making him laugh," cried Dutocq.
Just then Colleville and la Peyrade returned from the garden the very best friends in the world.
"Messieurs," said Brigitte, "the soup and the King must never be kept waiting; give your hand to the ladies." Five minutes after this little pleasantry (issuing from the lodge of her father the porter) Brigitte had the satisfaction of seeing her table surrounded by the principal personages of this drama; the rest, with the one exception of the odious Cerizet, arrived later.
The portrait of the former maker of canvas money-bags would be incomplete if we omitted to give a description of one of her best dinners.