THE THREE CITIES



PARIS



BY

EMILE ZOLA



TRANSLATED BY ERNEST A. VIZETELLY



BOOK III



I

THE RIVALS

ON the Wednesday preceding the mid-Lent Thursday, a great charity bazaar
was held at the Duvillard mansion, for the benefit of the Asylum of the
Invalids of Labour. The ground-floor reception rooms, three spacious
Louis Seize /salons/, whose windows overlooked the bare and solemn