He no longer took his customary cup of coffee at the club; he watched feverishly whilst play was going on, without touching a card.

Poverty made him more spiteful than he would otherwise have been.

He bore the blow for a long time, obstinately refusing to do anything in the way of work.
In 1840 he had a son, little Maxime, whom his grandmother Felicite fortunately sent to college, paying his fees clandestinely.

That made one mouth less at home; but poor Angele was dying of hunger, and her husband was at last compelled to seek a situation.

He secured one at the Sub-Prefecture.