‘The Assurance is not a rag but a newspaper for decent family men. The recruiting board will convene on 18 July, which leaves us, all of us – and let me insist on this point, all of us – six short months to find a replacement for our dear Auguste.’

Casimir himself still harboured very unpleasant memories from the period that had preceded the ballot of his own class. He had been left in a state of uncertainty right up to the eleventh hour, after a quarrel with his mother led her to punish him by steadfastly refusing to pay for a replacement for him in the event he drew a bad number. It still made him anxious to remember the day, twenty-three years earlier, when, in that same town hall, he had plunged a trembling hand into the urn. Fortunately, fate had smiled upon him and he had drawn a good number. He would not have to head off. And the events of 1848 only served to underline his relief. ‘I felt the wind of the cannonball in my hair,’ he was wont to recall. So there was no question of having his sons suffer that same dreadful experience, especially Auguste, who, given his feeble constitution, would struggle more than most with life in the barracks.

‘With the Prussians bearing down on us like a locomotive, I suspect prices will climb and your measly 2000 francs will do little to attract the dealers as you would hope. Believe you me, we shall have our work cut out,’ pointed out brother-in-law Jules, who knew a thing or two about conscription, having squandered a third of his existence wallowing in the dreary routine of garrison life.

‘There’s no doubt that with the rumours of war, those hustlers are set to earn more buying and selling men than trading livestock,’ agreed Ferdinand, his mouth full.

Despite feeling everybody’s eyes focused upon him, Auguste stared at his plate as if into an abyss. His father placed a reassuring hand on his forearm and said, gently:

‘Do you think we’re not mindful of what’s troubling you? Military replacements are a good thing precisely because they help to restore the very social equity of which you’re so fond. It causes money to fall from the hands of those who have it into the empty hands of those who have none, to ensure, at the end of the day, that the army is supplied with a good soldier rather than a poor-quality one. Don’t listen to the foolish notions planted in your head by those socialists whose company you keep. By removing them from the foul air of their workplace, and by relieving them of their bad food, military service offers nothing but benefits to the proletariat, whereas it serves only to compromise the health of the sons of the bourgeoisie and ruin their careers. This inequality you’re constantly talking to us about is found precisely in the absurd notion of universal service.’