Dinner was served by a new servant, who had been sent
by an Employment Office, and engaged without a question, no doubt
because Evariste's livery fitted him like a glove. Had the cook
also been replaced? Mademoiselle Marguerite thought so, though she
had no means of convincing herself on this point. It was certain,
however, that the Sunday dinner was utterly unlike that of the
evening before. Quality had replaced quantity, and care,
profusion. It was not necessary to send to the cellar for a
bottle of Chateau-Laroze; it made its appearance at the proper
moment, warmed to the precise degree of temperature, and seemed
quite to the taste of excellent Madame Leon.
In twenty-four hours the Fondege family had been raised to such
affluence that they must have asked themselves if it were possible
they had ever known the agonies of that life of false appearances
and sham luxury which is a thousand times worse than an existence
of abject poverty. "Is it possible that I am deceived?"
Marguerite said to herself, on retiring to her room that evening.
For it surprised her that a keen-sighted person like Madame Leon
should not have remarked this revolution; but the worthy companion
merely declared the General and his wife to be charming people,
and did not cease to congratulate her dear young lady upon having
accepted their hospitality. "I feel quite at home here," said
she; "and though my room is a trifle small, I shall have nothing
to wish for when it has been refurnished.
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