Quivering with
this last expression of motherhood, she wept as she saw the brilliant
staff officer of the Emperor turn to enter tobacconist's and pause on
the threshold; he had felt in his pocket and found nothing. Agathe
left the bridge, crossed the quai rapidly, took out her purse, thrust
it into Philippe's hand, and fled away as if she had committed a
crime. After that, she ate nothing for two days; before her was the
horrible vision of her son dying of hunger in the streets of Paris.
"When he has spent all the money in my purse, who will give him any?"
she thought. "Giroudeau did not deceive us; Philippe is just out of
that hospital."
She no longer saw the assassin of her poor aunt, the scourge of the
family, the domestic thief, the gambler, the drunkard, the low liver
of a bad life; she saw only the man recovering from illness, yet
doomed to die of starvation, the smoker deprived of his tobacco. At
forty-seven years of age she grew to look like a woman of seventy. Her
eyes were dimmed with tears and prayers. Yet it was not the last grief
this son was to bring upon her; her worst apprehensions were destined
to be realized. A conspiracy of officers was discovered at the heart
of the army, and articles from the "Moniteur" giving details of the
arrests were hawked about the streets.
In the depths of her cage in the lottery-office of the rue Vivienne,
Agathe heard the name of Philippe Bridau. She fainted, and the
manager, understanding her trouble and the necessity of taking certain
steps, gave her leave of absence for two weeks.
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