In ten minutes his poor wife came crawling into the room.  Every one connected with Melmotte regarded the man with a certain amount of awe,—­every one except Marie, to whom alone he had at times been himself almost gentle.  The servants all feared him, and his wife obeyed him implicitly when she could not keep away from him.  She came in now and stood opposite him, while he spoke to her.  She never sat in his presence in that room.  He asked her where she and Marie kept their jewelry;—­for during the last twelve months rich trinkets had been supplied to both of them.  Of course she answered by another question.  ‘Is anything going to happen, Melmotte?’

’A good deal is going to happen.  Are they here in this house, or...