He procured a place at the Sub-Prefecture, where he remained
nearly ten years, and only reached a salary of eighteen hundred francs.
During that time "he longed, with ever-increasing malevolence and
rancour, for those enjoyments of which he was deprived" by his lowly
position. In 1848, when his brother Eugene left for Paris, he had a
faint idea of following him, but remained in the hope of something
turning up. In opposition to his father, he expressed Republican
principles, and edited a newspaper called the _Independant_. At the time
of the _Coup d'Etat_, he became alarmed at the course of events, and
pretended that an accident to his hand prevented him from writing. His
mother having given him private information as to the success of the
Bonapartist cause, he changed the politics of his paper, and became
reconciled to his parents. La Fortune des Rougon.
Early in 1852 he went to Paris, taking with him his wife and daughter
Clotilde, then a child of four; his son Maxime he left at Plassans.
Through the influence of his brother Eugene, he got an appointment as
assistant surveying clerk at the _Hotel de Ville_, with a salary of two
thousand four hundred francs.
Pages:
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423