of sunlight, while
the crowd of guests, multiplied in the surrounding mirrors, seemed to
grow and increase as the murmur of many voices rose ever louder. The
couples who whirled round the drawing room, arm about waist, amid the
smiles of the seated ladies, still further accentuated the quaking of
the floors. In the garden a dull, fiery glow fell from the Venetian
lanterns and threw a distant reflection of flame over the dark shadows
moving in search of a breath of air about the walks at its farther end.
And this trembling of walls and this red glow of light seemed to betoken
a great ultimate conflagration in which the fabric of an ancient honor
was cracking and burning on every side. The shy early beginnings
of gaiety, of which Fauchery one April evening had heard the vocal
expression in the sound of breaking glass, had little by little grown
bolder, wilder, till they had burst forth in this festival. Now the
rift was growing; it was crannying the house and announcing approaching
downfall. Among drunkards in the slums it is black misery, an empty
cupboard, which put an end to ruined families; it is the madness of
drink which empties the wretched beds. Here the waltz tune was sounding
the knell of an old race amid the suddenly ignited ruins of accumulated
wealth, while Nana, although unseen, stretched her lithe limbs above the
dancers' heads and sent corruption through their caste, drenching the
hot air with the ferment of her exhalations and the vagabond lilt of the
music.

On the evening after the celebration of the church marriage Count Muffat
made his appearance in his wife's bedroom, where he had not entered for
the last two years. At first, in her great surprise, the countess drew
back from him. But she was still smiling the intoxicated smile which she
now always wore. He began stammering in extreme embarrassment; whereupon
she gave him a short moral lecture. However, neither of them risked a
decisive explanation. It was religion, they pretended, which required
this process of mutual forgiveness, and they agreed by a tacit
understanding to retain their freedom. Before going to bed, seeing
that the countess still appeared to hesitate, they had a business
conversation, and the count was the first to speak of selling the
Bordes. She consented at once. They both stood in great want of money,
and they would share and share alike. This completed the reconciliation,
and Muffat, remorseful though he was, felt veritably rel