Chapter 2 - Page 2

the cure, the under-prefect, and the miller's boy came on business.
This room, with two windows looking on the street, was entirely of
wood. Gray panels with ancient mouldings covered the walls from top to
bottom; the ceiling showed all its beams, which were likewise painted
gray, while the space between them had been washed over in white, now
yellow with age. An old brass clock, inlaid with arabesques, adorned
the mantel of the ill-cut white stone chimney-piece, above which was a
greenish mirror, whose edges, bevelled to show the thickness of the
glass, reflected a thread of light the whole length of a gothic frame
in damascened steel-work. The two copper-gilt candelabra which
decorated the corners of the chimney-piece served a double purpose: by
taking off the side-branches, each of which held a socket, the main
stem--which was fastened to a pedestal of bluish marble tipped with
copper--made a candlestick for one candle, which was sufficient for
ordinary occasions. The chairs, antique in shape, were covered with
tapestry representing the fables of La Fontaine; it was necessary,
however, to know that writer well to guess at the subjects, for the
faded colors and the figures, blurred by much darning, were difficult
to distinguish.

At the four corners of the hall were closets, or rather buffets,
surmounted by dirty shelves. An old card-table in marquetry, of which
the upper part was a chess-board, stood in the space between the two
windows. Above this table was an oval barometer with a black border
enlivened with gilt bands, on which the flies had so licentiously
disported themselves that the gilding had become problematical. On the
panel opposite to the chimney-piece were two portraits in pastel,
supposed to represent the grandfather of Madame Grandet, old Monsieur
de la Bertelliere, as a lieutenant in the French guard, and the
deceased Madame Gentillet in the guise of a shepherdess. The windows
were draped with curtains of red _gros de Tours_ held back by silken
cords with ecclesiastical tassels. This luxurious decoration, little
in keeping with the habits of Monsieur Grandet, had been, together
with the steel pier-glass, the tapestries, and the buffets, which were
of rose-wood, included in the purchase of the house.

By the window nearest to the door stood a straw chair, whose legs were
raised on castors to lift its occupant, Madame Grandet, to a height
from which she could see the passers-by. A work-table of stained
cherry-wood filled up the embrasure, and the little armchair of
Eugenie Grandet stood beside it. In this spot the lives had flowed
peacefully onward for fifteen years, in a round of constant work from
the month of April to the month of November. On the first day of the
latter