in
flowers; in the middle stood a round table with a marble top, while a
couple of pier tables, surmounted by mirrors, leant against the walls at
either end of the room. There was even a carpet, which just covered the
middle of the floor, and a chandelier in a white muslin cover which the
flies had spotted with black specks. On the walls hung six lithographs
representing the great battles of Napoleon I. Moreover, the furniture
dated from the first years of the Empire. The only embellishment that
Felicite could obtain was to have the walls hung with orange-hued paper
covered with large flowers. Thus the drawing room had a strange yellow
glow, which filled it with an artificial dazzling light. The furniture,
the paper, and the window curtains were yellow; the carpet and even the
marble table-tops showed touches of yellow. However, when the curtains
were drawn the colours harmonised fairly well and the drawing-room
looked almost decent.

But Felicite had dreamed of quite a different kind of luxury. She
regarded with mute despair this ill-concealed misery. She usually
occupied the drawing-room, the best apartment in the house, and the
sweetest and bitterest of her pastimes was to sit at one of the windows
which overlooked the Rue de la Banne and gave her a side view of the
square in front of the Sub-Prefecture. That was the paradise of her
dreams. That little, neat, tidy square, with its bright houses, seemed
to her a Garden of Eden. She would have given ten years of her life to
possess one of those habitations. The house at the left-hand corner,
in which the receiver of taxes resided, particularly tempted her. She
contemplated it with eager longing. Sometimes, when the windows of
this abode were open, she could catch a glimpse of rich furniture and
tasteful elegance which made her burn with envy.

At this period the Rougons passed through a curious crisis of vanity
and unsatiated appetite. The few proper feelings which they had once
entertained had become embittered. They posed as victims of evil
fortune, not with resignation, however, for they seemed still more
keenly determined that they would not die before they had satisfied
their ambitions. In reality, they did not abandon any of their hopes,
notwithstanding their advanced age. Felicite professed to feel a
presentiment that she would die rich. However, each day of poverty
weighed them down the more. When they recapitulated their vain
attempts--when they recalled the