delay in constituting the
entail. But when public opinion has taken a trend in one direction it
is very difficult to turn it back. Though Paul went every day to Madame
Evangelista's house, and though the notaries denied these assertions
continually, the whispered calumny went on. Young girls, and their
mothers and aunts, vexed at a marriage they had dreamed of for
themselves or for their families, could not forgive the Spanish ladies
for their happiness, as authors cannot forgive each other for their
success. A few persons revenged themselves for the twenty-years luxury
and grandeur of the family of Evangelista, which had lain heavily on
their self-love. A leading personage at the prefecture declared that
the notaries could have chosen no other language and followed no other
conduct in the case of a rupture. The time actually required for the
establishment of the entail confirmed the suspicions of the Bordeaux
provincials.

"They will keep the ball going through the winter; then, in the spring,
they will go to some watering-place, and we shall learn before the year
is out that the marriage is off."

"And, of course, we shall be given to understand," said others, "for
the sake of the honor of the two families, that the difficulties did not
come from either side, but the chancellor refused to consent; you may
be sure it will be some quibble about that entail which will cause the
rupture."

"Madame Evangelista," some said, "lived in a style that the mines of
Valencia couldn't meet. When the time came to melt the bell, and pay the
daughter's patrimony, nothing would be found to pay it with."

The occasion was excellent to add up the spendings of the handsome widow
and prove, categorically, her ruin. Rumors were so rife that bets were
made for and against the marriage. By the laws of worldly jurisprudence
this gossip was not allowed to reach the ears of the parties concerned.
No one was enemy or friend enough to Paul or to Madame Evangelista
to inform either of what was being said. Paul had some business at
Lanstrac, and used the occasion to make a hunting-party for several
of the young men of Bordeaux,--a sort of farewell, as it were, to his
bachelor life. This hunting party was accepted by society as a signal
confirmation of public suspicion.

When this event occurred, Madame de Gyas, who had a daughter to marry,
thought it high time to sound the matter, and to condole, with joyful
heart, the blow received by the Eva