nd only reached a salary of eighteen hundred francs.
During that time "he longed, with ever-increasing malevolence and
rancour, for those enjoyments of which he was deprived" by his lowly
position. In 1848, when his brother Eugene left for Paris, he had a
faint idea of following him, but remained in the hope of something
turning up. In opposition to his father, he expressed Republican
principles, and edited a newspaper called the _Independant_. At the time
of the _Coup d'Etat_, he became alarmed at the course of events, and
pretended that an accident to his hand prevented him from writing. His
mother having given him private information as to the success of the
Bonapartist cause, he changed the politics of his paper, and became
reconciled to his parents. La Fortune des Rougon.

Early in 1852 he went to Paris, taking with him his wife and daughter
Clotilde, then a child of four; his son Maxime he left at Plassans.
Through the influence of his brother Eugene, he got an appointment as
assistant surveying clerk at the _Hotel de Ville_, with a salary of two
thousand four hundred francs. Before entering on his duties, however, he
changed his name to Saccard on the suggestion of his brother, who feared
that he might be compromised by him. In 1853, Aristide was appointed
a surveying commissioner of roads, with an increased salary. At this
period great schemes of city improvement were under discussion, and
Aristide by spying and other shady means got early information as to
the position of the proposed new streets. Great chances of fortune were
arising, but he had no capital. The death of his wife enabled him to
enter into a plan proposed by his sister Sidonie, who had heard of
a family willing to make a considerable sacrifice to find a not too
inquisitive husband for their daughter. He accordingly married Renee
Beraud du Chatel, and gained control of a considerable sum of ready
money, in addition to the fortune settled on his wife. By means of
a cleverly contrived swindle, in which he was assisted by his friend
Larsonneau, he got a fabulous price for some property acquired by him,
and the foundation of his fortune was laid. From this time, he lived a
life of the wildest extravagance, and, though his gains were frequently
enormous, his expenses were so great that it was only with difficulty
that he was able to prevent a catastrophe. La Curee.

He as appointed by Pauline Quenu's family council to be her "surrogate
guardian." La