At the bridge M. Molay-Norrois, stopping to open his sunshade, observed:
"Formerly when you married off your daughter, all responsibility ceased. Nowadays the children are constantly bringing their troubles into court, and parents have no rest."
"Yes," agreed Philippe, "nothing is permanent."
"Indissoluble marriage was considered the safeguard of the family. Even if there were some obstacles, it was respected. But good breeding is out of date. Democracy has destroyed it."
"Perhaps it is because we have less time to devote to it."
"That time was not wasted, young man."
Flattered by this designation, the lawyer was tempted to agree, but the old beau went on:
"Discretion, tact, ingenuity in living are all lost qualities. People cry from the housetops what ought to be kept quiet. You will see the paper that has been drawn up by your colleague, the austere Salvage, an old friend of my family. Ah, those old friends of ours, the lawyers, barristers, doctors, what a nuisance they are, my dear fellow! You have to consult them in the name of the venerable usages which they keep up, and they take advantage of it to ruin you, to drag you into law-suits, to crush you—"
"I saw the petition."
"Well, what do you think of it? The truth—they are all for the truth. As if truth is necessary to civilization: as if a highly organized society, eager for enjoyment, could get on without hypocrisy! And you take the whole world into your confidence. Formerly silence was a rule of good taste."