To-morrow, we'll send for a shoemaker and a dressmaker. Put
another plate on the table; she shall keep us company."
That evening, all Issoudun could talk of nothing else than the sudden
appearance of the little "rabouilleuse" in Doctor Rouget's house. In
that region of satire the nickname stuck to Mademoiselle Brazier
before, during, and after the period of her good fortune.
The doctor no doubt intended to do with Flore Brazier, in a small way,
what Louis XV. did in a large one with Mademoiselle de Romans; but he
was too late about it; Louis XV. was still young, whereas the doctor
was in the flower of old age. From twelve to fourteen, the charming
little Rabouilleuse lived a life of unmixed happiness. Always
well-dressed, and often much better tricked out than the richest girls
in Issoudun, she sported a gold watch and jewels, given by the doctor to
encourage her studies, and she had a master who taught her to read,
write, and cipher. But the almost animal life of the true peasant had
instilled into Flore such deep repugnance to the bitter cup of
knowledge, that the doctor stopped her education at that point. His
intentions with regard to the child, whom he cleansed and clothed, and
taught, and formed with a care which was all the more remarkable
because he was thought to be utterly devoid of tenderness, were
interpreted in a variety of ways by the cackling society of the town,
whose gossip often gave rise to fatal blunders, like those relating to
the birth of Agathe and that of Max.
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