The Empire was on the point of turning Paris into the bawdy house of Europe. The gang of fortune-seekers who had succeeded in stealing a throne required a reign of adventures, shady transactions, sold consciences, bought women, and rampant drunkenness.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Émile Zola (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.