M.Hippolyte Ceres, seeing that she was succeeding and doing him credit, liked her still more.

He even went so far as to fall madly in love with her.
Henceforth, in spite of everything, she began to observe him with interest, being curious to see if his passion would increase.

He appeared to her without elegance or grace, and not well bred, but active, clear-sighted, full of resource, and not too great a bore.

She still made fun of him, but he had now won her interest.
One day she wished to test him.

It was during the elections, when members of Parliament were, as the phrase runs, requesting a renewal of their mandates.