, regarded their royalism as very
serious. Felicite went as far as to say, when Roudier was not present,
that if they had not made a fortune in the oil business the fault lay in
the monarchy of July. This was her mode of giving a political tinge to
their poverty. She had a friendly word for everybody, even for Granoux,
inventing each evening some new polite method of waking him up when it
was time for departure.

The drawing-room, that little band of Conservatives belonging to
all parties, and daily increasing in numbers, soon wielded powerful
influence. Owing to the diversified characters of its members, and
especially to the secret impulse which each one received from the
clergy, it became the centre of the reactionary movement and spread its
influence throughout Plassans. The policy of the marquis, who sank his
own personality, transformed Rougon into the leader of the party. The
meetings were held at his house, and this circumstance sufficed in the
eyes of most people to make him the head of the group, and draw public
attention to him. The whole work was attributed to him; he was believed
to be the chief artisan of the movement which was gradually bringing
over to the Conservative party those who had lately been enthusiastic
Republicans. There are some situations which benefit only persons of bad
repute. These lay the foundations of their fortune where men of better
position and more influence would never dare to risk theirs. Roudier,
Granoux, and the others, all men of means and respectability, certainly
seemed a thousand times preferable to Pierre as the acting leaders of
the Conservative party. But none of them would have consented to turn
his drawing-room into a political centre. Their convictions did not go
so far as to induce them to compromise themselves openly; in fact, they
were only so many provincial babblers, who liked to inveigh against the
Republic at a neighbour's house as long as the neighbour was willing to
bear the responsibility of their chatter. The game was too risky. There
was no one among the middle classes of Plassans who cared to play it
except the Rougons, whose ungratified longings urged them on to extreme
measures.

In the month of April, 1849, Eugene suddenly left Paris, and came to
stay with his father for a fortnight. Nobody ever knew the purpose of
this journey. It is probable that Eugene wanted to sound his native
town, to ascertain whether he might successfully stand as a candidate