[110] je suis travaillée de l'ambition, I have been tormented by the desire.
[111] au prix où sont, at the current value of.
[112] je ne suis pas en peine de m'acquitter, I shall have no difficulty in coming to an understanding.
[113] restaient sur la brèche, lit., "remained on the breach"; were the last waltzers.
[114] faudrait être sourd, for il faudrait être sourd pour ne pas l'entendre.
[115] les louis, etc., the louis d'or was first struck in 1640 under Louis XIII., for whom the coin was named. For a century and a half it ranged in value from $4.00 to $4.60, and at the time of the revolution was worth 23.60 francs. Under the republican and Napoleonic governments, the new twenty-franc gold piece came to be styled louis, and by many is still so called.
[116] Comment se fait-il, how does it happen.
[117] tout près de, almost.
[118] c'était bien d'argent qu'il s'agissait! it was, indeed, a question of money!
[119] il donna tête... préjugés, he sided blindly with every prejudice.