A blow would make the affair odious; that evening everyone would know the real reason of the meeting; it would be in all the papers.

And Labordette always finished with the same expression: "It is impossible; it would be ridiculous." Each time Muffat heard these words they seemed sharp and keen as a stab.
He could not even fight for the woman he loved; people would have burst out laughing.

Never before had he felt more bitterly the misery of his love, the contrast between his heavy heart and the absurdity of this life of pleasure in which it was now lost.

This was his last rebellion; he allowed Labordette to convince him, and he was present afterward at the procession of his friends, who lived there as if at home.
Nana in a few months finished them up greedily, one after the other.

The growing needs entailed by her luxurious way of life only added fuel to her desires, and she finished a man up at one mouthful.