Read "Claude's Confession" by Émile Zola online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Last evening, I had a bright fire on the hearth. I was rich enough to have two candles, and had lighted them both, regardless of the morrow.
I surprised myself singing, as I prepared for a night of toil. The mansarde laughed to find itself warm and luminous.