She saw that the only way of silencing talk was to marry
at once. This last so patently humiliating cheek was enough
to drive her to extreme measures ; and it takes a great deal to
force a feeble-minded human being out of a groove, be it
good or bad. Both the old bachelors understood the position



112 THE JEALOUSIES OP A COUNTEY TOWN

of affairs, both made up their minds to call in the morning
to make inquiries, and (in their own language) to press the
point.
M. de Valois considered that the occasion demanded a
scrupulous toilet ; he took a bath, he groomed himself with un-
usual care, and for the first time and the last Cesarine
saw him applying "a suspicion of rouge" with incredible
skill.
