of dust, and with the old-world simplicity of all they saw about them.
As their style of living compelled them to find the elements of
happiness in persistent work, Augustine and Virginie had hitherto
always satisfied their mother, who secretly prided herself on the
perfect characters of her two daughters. It is easy to imagine the
results of the training they had received. Brought up to a commercial
life, accustomed to hear nothing but dreary arguments and calculations
about trade, having studied nothing but grammar, book-keeping, a
little Bible-history, and the history of France in Le Ragois, and
never reading any book but what their mother would sanction, their
ideas had not acquired much scope. They knew perfectly how to keep
house; they were familiar with the prices of things; they understood
the difficulty of amassing money; they were economical, and had a
great respect for the qualities that make a man of business. Although
their father was rich, they were as skilled in darning as in
embroidery; their mother often talked of having them taught to cook,
so that they might know how to order a dinner and scold a cook with
due knowledge. They knew nothing of the pleasures of the world; and,
seeing how their parents spent their exemplary lives, they very rarely
suffered their eyes to wander beyond the walls of their hereditary
home, which to their mother was the whole universe. The meetings to
which family anniversaries gave rise filled in the future of earthly
joy to them.

When the great drawing-room on the second floor was to be prepared to
receive company--Madame Roguin, a Demoiselle Chevrel, fifteen months
younger than her cousin, and bedecked with diamonds; young Rabourdin,
employed in the Finance Office; Monsieur Cesar Birotteau, the rich
perfumer, and his wife, known as Madame Cesar; Monsieur Camusot, the
richest silk mercer in the Rue des Bourdonnais, with his