“Ah! if he could only have some great fright,” thought she; “if he would only commit some act of imprudence!  Then I should see him come to me and humbly ask for advice; it would be my turn to lay down the law.”

She felt somewhat uneasy at the imperious attitude Pierre would certainly assume if he were to triumph without her aid.  On marrying this peasant’s son, in preference to some notary’s clerk, she had intended to make use of him as a strongly made puppet, whose strings she would pull in her own way; and now, at the decisive moment, the puppet, in his blind stupidity, wanted to work alone!  All the cunning, all the feverish activity within the old woman protested against this.  She knew Pierre was quite capable of some brutal resolve such as that which he had taken when he compelled his mother to sign the receipt for fifty thousand francs; the tool was indeed a useful and unscrupulous one; but she felt the necessity for guiding it, especially under present circumstances, when considerable suppleness was requisite.

The official news of the Coup d’Etat did not reach Plassans until the afternoon of December 3—­a Thursday.  Already, at seven o’clock in the evening, there was a full meeting in the yellow drawing-room.  Although the crisis had been eagerly desired, vague uneasiness appeared on the faces of the majority.  They discussed events amid endless chatter.  Pierre, who like the others was slightly pale, thought it right, as an extreme measure of prudence, to excuse Prince Louis’s decisive act to the Legitimists and Orleanists who were present.

“There is talk of an appeal to the people,” he said; “the nation will then be free to choose whatever government it likes.  The president is a man to retire before our legitimate masters.”

The marquis, who had retained his aristocratic coolness, was the only one who greeted these words with a smile.  The others, in the enthusiasm of the moment, concerned themselves very little about what might follow.  All their opinions foundered.  Roudier, forgetting the esteem which as a former shopkeeper he had entertained for the Orleanists, stopped Pierre rather abruptly.  And everybody exclaimed:  “Don’t argue the matter.  Let us think of preserving order.”

These good people were terribly afraid of the Republicans.  There had, however been very little commotion in the town on the announcement of the events in Paris.  People had collected in front of the notices posted on the door of the Sub-Prefecture; it was also rumoured that a few hundred workmen had left their work and were endeavouring to organise resistance.  That was all.  No serious disturbance seemed likely to occur.  The course which the neighbouring towns and rural districts might take seemed more likely to occasion anxiety; however, it was not yet known how they had received the news of the Coup d’Etat.