Nana's triumph consisted in possessing and in ruining a newspaper that he had started with a friend's capital.

She did not proclaim her triumph; on the contrary, she delighted in treating him as a man who had to be circumspect, and when she spoke of Rose it was as "poor Rose." The newspaper kept her in flowers for two months.

She took all the provincial subscriptions; in fact, she took everything, from the column of news and gossip down to the dramatic notes.

Then the editorial staff having been turned topsy-turvy and the management completely disorganized, she satisfied a fanciful caprice and had a winter garden constructed in a corner of her house: that carried off all the type.

But then it was no joke after all! When in his delight at the whole business Mignon came to see if he could not saddle Fauchery on her altogether, she asked him if he took her for a fool.