t the
neighbouring towns, especially the small ones and the villages, have
long been worked by certain secret societies, and belong to the advanced
Republican party. If a Coup d'Etat should burst forth, the tocsin will
be heard throughout the entire country, from the forests of the Seille
to the plateau of Sainte-Roure."

Felicite reflected. "You think, then," she resumed, "that an
insurrection is necessary to ensure our fortune!"

"That's my opinion," replied Monsieur de Carnavant. And he added, with a
slightly ironical smile: "A new dynasty is never founded excepting upon
an affray. Blood is good manure. It will be a fine thing for the Rougons
to date from a massacre, like certain illustrious families."

These words, accompanied by a sneer, sent a cold chill through
Felicite's bones. But she was a strong-minded woman, and the sight of
Monsieur Peirotte's beautiful curtains, which she religiously viewed
every morning, sustained her courage. Whenever she felt herself
giving way, she planted herself at the window and contemplated the
tax-receiver's house. For her it was the Tuileries. She had determined
upon the most extreme measures in order to secure an entree into the new
town, that promised land, on the threshold of which she had stood with
burning longing for so many years.

The conversation which she had held with the marquis had at last clearly
revealed the situation to her. A few days afterwards, she succeeded in
reading one of Eugene's letters, in which he, who was working for the
Coup d'Etat, seemed also to rely upon an insurrection as the means of
endowing his father with some importance. Eugene knew his department
well. All his suggestions had been framed with the object of placing
as much influence as possible in the hands of the yellow drawing-room
reactionaries, so that the Rougons might be able to hold the town at the
critical moment. In accordance with his desires, the yellow drawing-room
was master of Plassans in November, 1851. Roudier represented the rich
citizens there, and his attitude would certainly decide that of the
entire new town. Granoux was still more valuable; he had the Municipal
Council behind him: he was its most powerful member, a fact which
will give some idea of its other members. Finally, through Commander
Sicardot, whom the marquis had succeeded in getting appointed as chief
of the National Guard, the yellow drawing-room had the armed forces at
their disposal.

The Rougons, th