"She was not woman enough for that," cried the famous beauty of the
Circus; "still, she ruined young d'Esgrignon very neatly."

"Ten days afterwards, little Croizeau, perched on his dignity, said
almost exactly the same thing, for the fair Antonia's benefit,"
continued Desroches.

"'Child,' said he, 'your reading-room is a hole of a place. You will
lose your complexion; the gas will ruin your eyesight. You ought to
come out of it; and, look here, let us take advantage of an
opportunity. I have found a young lady for you that asks no better
than to buy your reading-room. She is a ruined woman with nothing
before her but a plunge into the river; but she had four thousand
francs in cash, and the best thing to do is to turn them to account,
so as to feed and educate a couple of children.'

"'Very well. It is kind of you, Daddy Croizeau,' said Antonia.

"'Oh, I shall be much kinder before I have done. Just imagine it,
poor M. Denisart has been worried into the jaundice! Yes, it has gone
to the liver, as it usually does with susceptible old men. It is a
pity he feels things so. I told him so myself; I said, "Be passionate,
there is no harm in that, but as for taking things to heart--draw the
line at that! It is the way to kill yourself."--Really, I would not
have expected him to take on so about it; a man that has sense enough
and experience enough to keep away as he does while he digests his
dinner--'

"'But what is the matter?' inquired Mlle. Chocardelle.