"The King has given me an order for the Museum of Versailles." Madame de Fougeres adores her husband, to whom she has presented two children. This painter, a good father and a good husband, is unable to eradicate from his heart a fatal thought, namely, that artists laugh at his work; that his name is a term of contempt in the studios; and that the feuilletons take no notice of his pictures. But he still works on; he aims for the Academy, where, undoubtedly, he will enter. And--oh! vengeance which dilates his heart!--he buys the pictures of celebrated artists who are pinched for means, and he substitutes these true works of arts that are not his own for the wretched daubs in the collection at Ville d'Avray. There are many mediocrities more aggressive and more mischievous than that of Pierre Grassou, who is, moreover, anonymously benevolent and truly obliging. ADDENDUM The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. Bridau, Joseph The Purse A Bachelor's Establishment A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Start in Life Modeste Mignon Another Study of Woman Letters of Two Brides Cousin Betty The Member for Arcis Cardot (Parisian notary) The Muse of the Department A Man of Business Jealousies of a Country Town The Middle Classes Cousin Pons Grassou, Pierre A Bachelor's Establishment Cousin Betty The Middle Classes Cousin Pons Lora, Leon de The Unconscious Humorists A Bachelor's Establishment A Start in Life Honorine Cousin Betty Beatrix Magus, Elie The Vendetta A Marriage Settlement A Bachelor's Establishment Cousin Pons Schinner, Hippolyte The Purse A Bachelor's Establishment A Start in Life Albert Savarus The Government Clerks Modeste Mignon The Imaginary Mistress The Unconscious Humorists End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pierre Grassou, by Honore de Balzac