That
wily politician did not wish to have recourse to Cesarine unless he
continued to be an object of horror to Mademoiselle Brazier. He saw
that Flore had been thoroughly broken to harness by Max; he knew she
was an essential part of his uncle's life, and he greatly preferred to
use her rather than send for the ballet-girl, who might take it into
her head to marry the old man. Fouche advised Louis XVIII. to sleep in
Napoleon's sheets instead of granting the charter; and Philippe would
have liked to remain in Gilet's sheets; but he was reluctant to risk
the good reputation he had made for himself in Berry. To take Max's
place with the Rabouilleuse would be as odious on his part as on hers.
He could, without discredit and by the laws of nepotism, live in his
uncle's house and at his uncle's expense; but he could not have Flore
unless her character were whitewashed. Hampered by this difficulty,
and stimulated by the hope of finally getting hold of the property,
the idea came into his head of making his uncle marry the
Rabouilleuse. With this in view he requested his mother to go and see
the girl and treat her in a sisterly manner.
"I must confess, my dear mother," he said, in a canting tone, looking
at Monsieur and Madame Hochon who accompanied her, "that my uncle's
way of life is not becoming; he could, however, make Mademoiselle
Brazier respected by the community if he chose. Wouldn't it be far
better for her to be Madame Rouget than the servant-mistress of an old
bachelor? She had better obtain a definite right to his property by a
marriage contract then threaten a whole family with disinheritance.
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