and. But Veronique, unable to imagine a case in
which a woman might desire the use of her own property, urged it upon
her mother with reasons of great generosity, and out of gratitude to
Graslin for restoring to her the liberty and freedom of a young girl.
But this is anticipating.

The unusual splendor which accompanied Graslin's marriage had disturbed
all his habits and constantly annoyed him. The mind of the great
financier was a very small one. Veronique had had no means of judging
the man with whom she was to pass her life. During his fifty-five visits
he had let her see nothing but the business man, the indefatigable
worker, who conceived and sustained great enterprises, and analyzed
public affairs, bringing them always to the crucial test of the Bank.
Fascinated by the million offered to him by Sauviat, he showed himself
generous by calculation. Carried away by the interests of his marriage
and by what he called his "folly," namely, the house which still goes
by the name of the hotel Graslin, he did things on a large scale. Having
bought horses, a caleche, and a coupe, he naturally used them to
return the wedding visits and go to those dinners and balls, called the
"retours de noces," which the heads of the administration and the
rich families of Limoges gave to the newly married pair. Under this
impulsion, which carried him entirely out of his natural sphere, Graslin
sent to Paris for a man-cook and took a reception day. For a year
he kept the pace of a man who possesses a fortune of sixteen hundred
thousand francs, and he became of course the most noted personage in
Limoges. During this year he generously put into his wife's purse every
month twenty-five gold pieces of twenty francs each.

Society concerned itself much about Veronique from the day of her
marriage, for she was a boon to its curiosity, which has little to feed
on in the provinces. Veronique was all the more studied because she
had appeared in the social world like a phenomenon; but once there, she
remained always simple and modest, in the attitude of a person who
is observing habits, customs, manners, things unknown to her, and
endeavoring to conform to them. Already voted ugly but well-shaped, she
was now declared kindly but stupid. She was learning so many things, she
had so much to hear and to see that her looks and speech did certainly
give some reason for this judgment. She showed a sort of torpor which
resembled lack of mind. Marriage, tha