Chapter 9. La Marquise De Las Florentinas Y Cabirolos

The following day, at two o'clock, a young man entered the office,whom Oscar recognized as Georges Marest, now head-clerk of the notaryHannequin.

"Ha! here's the friend of Ali pacha!" he exclaimed in a flippant way.

"Hey! you here, Monsieur l'ambassadeur!" returned Georges,recollecting Oscar.

"So you know each other?" said Godeschal, addressing Georges.

"I should think so! We got into a scrape together," replied Georges,"about two years ago. Yes, I had to leave Crottat and go to Hannequinin consequence of that affair."

"What was it?" asked Godeschal.

"Oh, nothing!" replied Georges, at a sign from Oscar. "We tried tohoax a peer of France, and he bowled us over. Ah ca! so you want tojockey my cousin, do you?"

"We jockey no one," replied Oscar, with dignity; "there's ourcharter."

And he presented the famous register, pointing to a place wheresentence of banishment was passed on a refractory who was stated tohave been forced, for acts of dishonesty, to leave the office in 1788.

Georges laughed as he looked through the archives.

"Well, well," he said, "my cousin and I are rich, and we'll give you afete such as you never had before,--something to stimulate yourimaginations for that register. To-morrow (Sunday) you are bidden tothe Rocher de Cancale at two o'clock. Afterwards, I'll take you tospend the evening with Madame la Marquise de las Florentinas yCabirolos, where we shall play cards, and you'll see the elite of thewomen of fashion. Therefore, gentleman of the lower courts," he added,with notarial assumption, "you will have to behave yourselves, andcarry your wine like the seigneurs of the Regency."

"Hurrah!" cried the office like one man. "Bravo! very well! vivat!Long live the Marests!"

"What's all this about?" asked Desroches, coming out from his privateoffice. "Ah! is that you, Georges? I know what you are after; you wantto demoralize my clerks."

So saying, he withdrew into his own room, calling Oscar after him.

"Here," he said, opening his cash-box, "are five hundred francs. Go tothe Palais, and get from the registrar a copy of the decision inVandernesse against Vandernesse; it must be served to-night ifpossible. I have promised a PROD of twenty francs to Simon. Wait forthe copy if it is not ready. Above all, don't let yourself be fooled;for Derville is capable, in the interest of his clients, to stick aspoke in our wheel. Count Felix de Vandernesse is more powerful thanhis brother, our client, the ambassador. Therefore keep your eyesopen, and if there's the slightest hitch come back to me at once."

Oscar departed with the full intention of distinguishing himself inthis little skirmish,--the first affair entrusted to him since hisinstallation as second clerk.

After the departure of Georges and Oscar, Godeschal sounded the newclerk to discover the joke which, as he thought, lay behind thisMarquise de las Florentinas y Cabirolos. But Frederic, with thecoolness and gravity of a king's attorney, continued his cousin'shoax, and by his way of answering, and his manner generally, hesucceeded in making the office believe that the marquise might reallybe the widow of a Spanish grandee, to whom his cousin Georges waspaying his addresses. Born in Mexico, and the daughter of Creoleparents, this young and wealthy widow was noted for the easy mannersand habits of the women of those climates.

"She loves to laugh, she loves to sing, she loves to drink like me!"he said in a low voice, quoting the well-known song of Beranger."Georges," he added, "is very rich; he has inherited from his father(who was a widower) eighteen thousand francs a year, and with thetwelve thousand which an uncle has just left to each of us, he has anincome of thirty thousand. So he pays his debts, and gives up the law.He hopes to be Marquis de las Florentinas, for the young widow ismarquise in her own right, and has the privilege of giving her titlesto her husband."

Though the clerks were still a good deal undecided in mind as to themarquise, the double perspective of a breakfast at the Rocher deCancale and a fashionable festivity put them into a state of joyousexpectation. They reserved all points as to the Spanish lady,intending to judge her without appeal after the meeting.

The Marquise de las Florentinas y Cabirolos was neither more nor lessthan Mademoiselle Agathe-Florentine Cabirolle, first danseuse at theGaiete, with whom uncle Cardot was in the habit of singing "MereGodichon." A year after the very reparable loss of Madame Cardot, thesuccessful merchant encountered Florentine as she was leaving Coulon'sdancing-class. Attracted by the beauty of that choregraphic flower(Florentine was then about thirteen years of age), he followed her tothe rue Pastourel, where he found that the future star of the balletwas the daughter of a portress. Two weeks later, the mother anddaughter, established in the rue de Crussol, were enjoying a modestcompetence. It was to this protector of the arts--to use theconsecrated phrase--that the theatre owed the brilliant danseuse. Thegenerous Maecenas made two beings almost beside themselves with joy inthe possession of mahogany furniture, hangings, carpets, and a regularkitchen; he allowed them a woman-of-all-work, and gave them twohundred and fifty francs a month for their living. Pere Cardot, withhis hair in "pigeon-wings," seemed like an angel, and was treated withthe attention due to a benefactor. To him this was the age of gold.

For three years the warbler of "Mere Godichon" had the wise policy tokeep Mademoiselle Cabirolle and her mother in this little apartment,which was only ten steps from the theatre; but he gave the girl, outof love for the choregraphic art, the great Vestris for a master. In1820 he had the pleasure of seeing Florentine dance her first "pas" inthe ballet of a melodrama entitled "The Ruins of Babylon." Florentinewas then about sixteen. Shortly after this debut Pere Cardot became an"old screw" in the eyes of his protegee; but as he had the sense tosee that a danseuse at the Gaiete had a certain rank to maintain, heraised the monthly stipend to five hundred francs, for which, althoughhe did not again become an angel, he was, at least, a "friend forlife," a second father. This was his silver age.

From 1820 to 1823, Florentine had the experience of every danseuse ofnineteen to twenty years of age. Her friends were the illustriousMariette and Tullia, leading ladies of the Opera, Florine, and alsopoor Coralie, torn too early from the arts, and love, and Camusot. Asold Cardot had by this time acquired five additional years, he hadfallen into the indulgence of a semi-paternity, which is the way withold men towards the young talents they have trained, and which owetheir success to them. Besides, where could he have found anotherFlorentine who knew all his habits and likings, and with whom he andhis friends could sing "Mere Godichon"? So the little old man remainedunder a yoke that was semi-conjugal and also irresistibly strong. Thiswas the brass age for the old fellow.

During the five years of silver and gold Pere Cardot had laid byeighty thousand francs. The old gentleman, wise from experience,foresaw that by the time he was seventy Florentine would be of age,probably engaged at the Opera, and, consequently, wanting all theluxury of a theatrical star. Some days before the party mentioned byGeorges, Pere Cardot had spent the sum of forty-five thousand francsin fitting up for his Florentine the former apartment of the lateCoralie. In Paris there are suites of rooms as well as houses andstreets that have their predestinations. Enriched with a magnificentservice of plate, the "prima danseuse" of the Gaiete began to givedinners, spent three hundred francs a month on her dress, never wentout except in a hired carriage, and had a maid for herself, a cook,and a little footman.

In fact, an engagement at the Opera was already in the wind. The Cocond'Or did homage to its first master by sending its most splendidproducts for the gratification of Mademoiselle Cabirolle, now calledFlorentine. The magnificence which suddenly burst upon her apartmentin the rue de Vendome would have satisfied the most ambitioussupernumerary. After being the master of the ship for seven years,Cardot now found himself towed along by a force of unlimited caprice.But the luckless old gentleman was fond of his tyrant. Florentine wasto close his eyes; he meant to leave her a hundred thousand francs.The iron age had now begun.

Georges Marest, with thirty thousand francs a year, and a handsomeface, courted Florentine. Every danseuse makes a point of having someyoung man who will take her to drive, and arrange the gay excursionsinto the country which all such women delight in. Howeverdisinterested she may be, the courtship of such a star is a passionwhich costs some trifles to the favored mortal. There are dinners atrestaurants, boxes at the theatres, carriages to go to the environsand return, choice wines consumed in profusion,--for an opera danseuseeats and drinks like an athlete. Georges amused himself like otheryoung men who pass at a jump from paternal discipline to a richindependence, and the death of his uncle, nearly doubling his means,had still further enlarged his ideas. As long as he had only hispatrimony of eighteen thousand francs a year, his intention was tobecome a notary, but (as his cousin remarked to the clerks ofDesroches) a man must be stupid who begins a profession with thefortune most men hope to acquire in order to leave it. Wiser thenGeorges, Frederic persisted in following the career of public office,and of putting himself, as we have seen, in training for it.

A young man as handsome and attractive as Georges might very wellaspire to the hand of a rich creole; and the clerks in Desroches'office, all of them the sons of poor parents, having never frequentedthe great world, or, indeed, known anything about it, put themselvesinto their best clothes on the following day, impatient enough tobehold, and be presented to the Mexican Marquise de las Florentinas yCabirolos.

"What luck," said Oscar to Godeschal, as they were getting up in themorning, "that I had just ordered a new coat and trousers andwaistcoat, and that my dear mother had made me that fine outfit! Ihave six frilled shirts of fine linen in the dozen she made for me. Weshall make an appearance! Ha! ha! suppose one of us were to carry offthe Creole marchioness from that Georges Marest!"

"Fine occupation that, for a clerk in our office!" cried Godeschal."Will you never control your vanity, popinjay?"

"Ah! monsieur," said Madame Clapart, who entered the room at thatmoment to bring her son some cravats, and overhead the last words ofthe head-clerk, "would to God that my Oscar might always follow youradvice. It is what I tell him all the time: 'Imitate MonsieurGodeschal; listen to what he tells you.'"

"He'll go all right, madame," interposed Godeschal, "but he mustn'tcommit any more blunders like one he was guilty of last night, orhe'll lose the confidence of the master. Monsieur Desroches won'tstand any one not succeeding in what he tells them to do. He orderedyour son, for a first employment in his new clerkship, to get a copyof a judgment which ought to have been served last evening, and Oscar,instead of doing so, allowed himself to be fooled. The master wasfurious. It's a chance if I have been able to repair the mischief bygoing this morning, at six o'clock, to see the head-clerk at thePalais, who has promised me to have a copy ready by seven o'clock to-morrow morning."

"Ah, Godeschal!" cried Oscar, going up to him and pressing his hand."You are, indeed, a true friend."

"Ah, monsieur!" said Madame Clapart, "a mother is happy, indeed, inknowing that her son has a friend like you; you may rely upon agratitude which can end only with my life. Oscar, one thing I want tosay to you now. Distrust that Georges Marest. I wish you had never methim again, for he was the cause of your first great misfortune inlife."

"Was he? How so?" asked Godeschal.

The too devoted mother explained succinctly the adventure of her poorOscar in Pierrotin's coucou.

"I am certain," said Godeschal, "that that blagueur is preparing sometrick against us for this evening. As for me, I can't go to theMarquise de las Florentinas' party, for my sister wants me to draw upthe terms of her new engagement; I shall have to leave after thedessert. But, Oscar, be on your guard. They will ask you to play, and,of course, the Desroches office mustn't draw back; but be careful. Youshall play for both of us; here's a hundred francs," said the goodfellow, knowing that Oscar's purse was dry from the demands of histailor and bootmaker. "Be prudent; remember not to play beyond thatsum; and don't let yourself get tipsy, either with play or libations.Saperlotte! a second clerk is already a man of weight, and shouldn'tgamble on notes, or go beyond a certain limit in anything. Hisbusiness is to get himself admitted to the bar. Therefore don't drinktoo much, don't play too long, and maintain a proper dignity,--that'syour rule of conduct. Above all, get home by midnight; for, remember,you must be at the Palais to-morrow morning by seven to get thatjudgment. A man is not forbidden to amuse himself, but business first,my boy."

"Do you hear that, Oscar?" said Madame Clapart. "Monsieur Godeschal isindulgent; see how well he knows how to combine the pleasures of youthand the duties of his calling."

Madame Clapart, on the arrival of the tailor and the bootmaker withOscar's new clothes, remained alone with Godeschal, in order to returnhim the hundred francs he had just given her son.

"Ah, monsieur!" she said, "the blessings of a mother will follow youwherever you go, and in all your enterprises."

Poor woman! she now had the supreme delight of seeing her son well-dressed, and she gave him a gold watch, the price of which she hadsaved by economy, as the reward of his good conduct.

"You draw for the conscription next week," she said, "and to prepare,in case you get a bad number, I have been to see your uncle Cardot. Heis very much pleased with you; and so delighted to know you are asecond clerk at twenty, and to hear of your successful examination atthe law-school, that he promised me the money for a substitute. Arenot you glad to think that your own good conduct has brought suchreward? Though you have some privations to bear, remember thehappiness of being able, five years from now, to buy a practice. Andthink, too, my dear little kitten, how happy you make your mother."

Oscar's face, somewhat thinned by study, had acquired, through habitsof business, a serious expression. He had reached his full growth, hisbeard was thriving; adolescence had given place to virility. Themother could not refrain from admiring her son and kissing him, as shesaid:--

"Amuse yourself, my dear boy, but remember the advice of our goodMonsieur Godeschal. Ah! by the bye, I was nearly forgetting! Here's apresent our friend Moreau sends you. See! what a pretty pocket-book."

"And I want it, too; for the master gave me five hundred francs to getthat cursed judgment of Vandernesse versus Vandernesse, and I don'twant to leave that sum of money in my room."

"But, surely, you are not going to carry it with you!" exclaimed hismother, in alarm. "Suppose you should lose a sum like that! Hadn't youbetter give it to Monsieur Godeschal for safe keeping?"

"Godeschal!" cried Oscar, who thought his mother's suggestionexcellent.

But Godeschal, who, like all clerks, has his time to himself onSundays, from ten to two o'clock, had already departed.

When his mother left him, Oscar went to lounge upon the boulevardsuntil it was time to go to Georges Marest's breakfast. Why not displaythose beautiful clothes which he wore with a pride and joy which allyoung fellows who have been pinched for means in their youth willremember. A pretty waistcoat with a blue ground and a palm-leafpattern, a pair of black cashmere trousers pleated, a black coat verywell fitting, and a cane with a gilt top, the cost of which he hadsaved himself, caused a natural joy to the poor lad, who thought ofhis manner of dress on the day of that journey to Presles, as theeffect that Georges had then produced upon him came back to his mind.

Oscar had before him the perspective of a day of happiness; he was tosee the gay world at last! Let us admit that a clerk deprived ofenjoyments, though longing for dissipation, was likely to let hisunchained senses drive the wise counsels of his mother and Godeschalcompletely out of his mind. To the shame of youth let it be added thatgood advice is never lacking to it. In the matter of Georges, Oscarhimself had a feeling of aversion for him; he felt humiliated before awitness of that scene in the salon at Presles when Moreau had flunghim at the count's feet. The moral senses have their laws, which areimplacable, and we are always punished for disregarding them. There isone in particular, which the animals themselves obey withoutdiscussion, and invariably; it is that which tells us to avoid thosewho have once injured us, with or without intention, voluntarily orinvoluntarily. The creature from whom we receive either damage orannoyance will always be displeasing to us. Whatever may be his rankor the degree of affection in which he stands to us, it is best tobreak away from him; for our evil genius has sent him to us. Thoughthe Christian sentiment is opposed to it, obedience to this terriblelaw is essentially social and conservative. The daughter of James II.,who seated herself upon her father's throne, must have caused him manya wound before that usurpation. Judas had certainly given somemurderous blow to Jesus before he betrayed him. We have within us aninward power of sight, an eye of the soul which foresees catastrophes;and the repugnance that comes over us against the fateful being is theresult of that foresight. Though religion orders us to conquer it,distrust remains, and its voice is forever heard. Would Oscar, attwenty years of age, have the wisdom to listen to it?

Alas! when, at half-past two o'clock, Oscar entered the salon of theRocher de Cancale,--where were three invited persons besides theclerks, to wit: an old captain of dragoons, named Giroudeau; Finot, ajournalist who might procure an engagement for Florentine at theOpera, and du Bruel, an author, the friend of Tullia, one ofMariette's rivals,--the second clerk felt his secret hostility vanishat the first handshaking, the first dashes of conversation as they sataround a table luxuriously served. Georges, moreover, made himselfcharming to Oscar.

"You've taken to private diplomacy," he said; "for what difference isthere between a lawyer and an ambassador? only that between a nationand an individual. Ambassadors are the attorneys of Peoples. If I canever be useful to you, let me know."

"Well," said Oscar, "I'll admit to you now that you once did me a verygreat harm."

"Pooh!" said Georges, after listening to the explanation for which heasked; "it was Monsieur de Serizy who behaved badly. His wife! Iwouldn't have her at any price; neither would I like to be in thecount's red skin, minister of State and peer of France as he is. Hehas a small mind, and I don't care a fig for him now."

Oscar listened with true pleasure to these slurs on the count, forthey diminished, in a way, the importance of his fault; and he echoedthe spiteful language of the ex-notary, who amused himself bypredicting the blows to the nobility of which the bourgeoisie werealready dreaming,--blows which were destined to become a reality in1830.

At half-past three the solid eating of the feast began; the dessertdid not appear till eight o'clock,--each course having taken two hoursto serve. None but clerks can eat like that! The stomachs of eighteenand twenty are inexplicable to the medical art. The wines were worthyof Borrel, who in those days had superseded the illustrious Balaine,the creator of the first restaurant for delicate and perfectlyprepared food in Paris,--that is to say, the whole world.

The report of this Belshazzar's feast for the architriclino-basochienregister was duly drawn up, beginning, "Inter pocula aurearestauranti, qui vulgo dicitur Rupes Cancali." Every one can imaginethe fine page now added to the Golden Book of jurisprudentialfestivals.

Godeschal disappeared after signing the report, leaving the elevenguests, stimulated by the old captain of the Imperial Guard, to thewines, toasts, and liqueurs of a dessert composed of choice and earlyfruits, in pyramids that rivalled the obelisk of Thebes. By half-pastten the little sub-clerk was in such a state that Georges packed himinto a coach, paid his fare, and gave the address of his mother to thedriver. The remaining ten, all as drunk as Pitt and Dundas, talked ofgoing on foot along the boulevards, considering the fine evening, tothe house of the Marquise de las Florentinas y Cabirolos, where, aboutmidnight, they might expect to find the most brilliant society ofParis. They felt the need of breathing the pure air into their lungs;but, with the exception of Georges, Giroudeau, du Bruel, and Finot,all four accustomed to Parisian orgies, not one of the party couldwalk. Consequently, Georges sent to a livery-stable for three opencarriages, in which he drove his company for an hour round theexterior boulevards from Monmartre to the Barriere du Trone. Theyreturned by Bercy, the quays, and the boulevards to the rue deVendome.

The clerks were fluttering still in the skies of fancy to which youthis lifted by intoxication, when their amphitryon introduced them intoFlorentine's salon. There sparkled a bevy of stage princesses, who,having been informed, no doubt, of Frederic's joke, were amusingthemselves by imitating the women of good society. They were thenengaged in eating ices. The wax-candles flamed in the candelabra.Tullia's footmen and those of Madame du Val-Noble and Florine, all infull livery, where serving the dainties on silver salvers. Thehangings, a marvel of Lyonnaise workmanship, fastened by gold cords,dazzled all eyes. The flowers of the carpet were like a garden. Therichest "bibelots" and curiosities danced before the eyes of the new-comers.

At first, and in the state to which Georges had brought them, theclerks, and more particularly Oscar, believed in the Marquise de lasFlorentinas y Cabirolos. Gold glittered on four card-tables in thebed-chamber. In the salon, the women were playing at vingt-et-un, keptby Nathan, the celebrated author.

After wandering, tipsy and half asleep, through the dark exteriorboulevards, the clerks now felt that they had wakened in the palace ofArmida. Oscar, presented to the marquise by Georges, was quitestupefied, and did not recognize the danseuse he had seen at theGaiete, in this lady, aristocratically decolletee and swathed inlaces, till she looked like the vignette of a keepsake, who receivedhim with manners and graces the like of which was neither in thememory nor the imagination of a young clerk rigidly brought up. Afteradmiring the splendors of the apartment and the beautiful women theredisplayed, who had all outdone each other in their dress for thisoccasion, Oscar was taken by the hand and led by Florentine to avingt-et-un table.

"Let me present you," she said, "to the beautiful Marquise d'Anglade,one of my nearest friends."

And she took Oscar to the pretty Fanny Beaupre, who had just madeherself a reputation at the Porte-Saint-Martin, in a melodramaentitled "La Famille d'Anglade."

"My dear," said Florentine, "allow me to present to you a charmingyouth, whom you can take as a partner in the game."

"Ah! that will be delightful," replied the actress, smiling, as shelooked at Oscar. "I am losing. Shall we go shares, monsieur?"

"Madame la marquise, I am at your orders," said Oscar, sitting downbeside her.

"Put down the money; I'll play; you shall being me luck! See, here aremy last hundred francs."

And the "marquise" took out from her purse, the rings of which wereadorned with diamonds, five gold pieces. Oscar pulled out his hundredin silver five-franc pieces, much ashamed at having to mingle suchignoble coins with gold. In ten throws the actress lost the twohundred francs.

"Oh! how stupid!" she cried. "I'm banker now. But we'll play togetherstill, won't we?"

Fanny Beaupre rose to take her place as banker, and Oscar, findinghimself observed by the whole table, dared not retire on the groundthat he had no money. Speech failed him, and his tongue clove to theroof of his mouth.

"Lend me five hundred francs," said the actress to the danseuse.

Florentine brought the money, which she obtained from Georges, who hadjust passed eight times at ecarte.

"Nathan has won twelve hundred francs," said the actress to Oscar."Bankers always win; we won't let them fool us, will we?" shewhispered in his ear.

Persons of nerve, imagination, and dash will understand how it wasthat poor Oscar opened his pocket-book and took out the note of fivehundred francs which Desroches had given him. He looked at Nathan, thedistinguished author, who now began, with Florine, to play a heavygame against the bank.

"Come, my little man, take 'em up," cried Fanny Beaupre, signing toOscar to rake in the two hundred francs which Nathan and Florine hadpunted.

The actress did not spare taunts or jests on those who lost. Sheenlivened the game with jokes which Oscar thought singular; butreflection was stifled by joy; for the first two throws produced again of two thousand francs. Oscar then thought of feigning illnessand making his escape, leaving his partner behind him; but "honor"kept him there. Three more turns and the gains were lost. Oscar felt acold sweat running down his back, and he was sobered completely.

The next two throws carried off the thousand francs of their mutualstake. Oscar was consumed with thirst, and drank three glasses of icedpunch one after the other. The actress now led him into the bed-chamber, where the rest of the company were playing, talkingfrivolities with an easy air. But by this time the sense of his wrong-doing overcame him; the figure of Desroches appeared to him like avision. He turned aside to a dark corner and sat down, putting hishandkerchief to his eyes, and wept. Florentine noticed the attitude oftrue grief, which, because it is sincere, is certain to strike the eyeof one who acts. She ran to him, took the handkerchief from his hand,and saw his tears; then she led him into a boudoir alone.

"What is it, my child?" she said.

At the tone and accent of that voice Oscar recognized a motherlykindness which is often found in women of her kind, and he answeredopenly:--

"I have lost five hundred francs which my employer gave me to obtain adocument to-morrow morning; there's nothing for me but to fling myselfinto the river; I am dishonored."

"How silly you are!" she said. "Stay where you are; I'll get you athousand francs and you can win back what you've lost; but don't riskmore than five hundred, so that you may be sure of your master'smoney. Georges plays a fine game at ecarte; bet on him."

Oscar, frightened by his position, accepted the offer of the mistressof the house.

"Ah!" he thought, "it is only women of rank who are capable of suchkindness. Beautiful, noble, rich! how lucky Georges is!"

He received the thousand francs from Florentine and returned to bet onhis hoaxer. Georges had just passed for the fourth time when Oscar satdown beside him. The other players saw with satisfaction the arrivalof a new better; for all, with the instinct of gamblers, took the sideof Giroudeau, the old officer of the Empire.

"Messieurs," said Georges, "you'll be punished for deserting me; Ifeel in the vein. Come, Oscar, we'll make an end of them!"

Georges and his partner lost five games running. After losing thethousand francs Oscar was seized with the fury of play and insisted ontaking the cards himself. By the result of a chance not at alluncommon with those who play for the first time, he won. But Georgesbewildered him with advice; told him when to throw the cards, and evensnatched them from his hand; so that this conflict of wills andintuitions injured his vein. By three o'clock in the morning, aftervarious changes of fortune, and still drinking punch, Oscar came downto his last hundred francs. He rose with a heavy head, completelystupefied, took a few steps forward, and fell upon a sofa in theboudoir, his eyes closing in a leaden sleep.

"Mariette," said Fanny Beaupre to Godeschal's sister, who had come inabout two o'clock, "do you dine here to-morrow? Camusot and PereCardot are coming, and we'll have some fun."

"What!" cried Florentine, "and my old fellow never told me!"

"He said he'd tell you to-morrow morning," remarked Fanny Beaupre.

"The devil take him and his orgies!" exclaimed Florentine. "He andCamusot are worse than magistrates or stage-managers. But we have verygood dinners here, Mariette," she continued. "Cardot always ordersthem from Chevet's; bring your Duc de Maufrigneuse and we'll make themdance like Tritons."

Hearing the names of Cardot and Camusot, Oscar made an effort to throwoff his sleep; but he could only mutter a few words which were notunderstood, and then he fell back upon the silken cushions.

"You'll have to keep him here all night," said Fanny Beaupre,laughing, to Florentine.

"Oh! poor boy! he is drunk with punch and despair both. It is thesecond clerk in your brother's office," she said to Mariette. "He haslost the money his master gave him for some legal affair. He wanted todrown himself; so I lent him a thousand francs, but those brigandsFinot and Giroudeau won them from him. Poor innocent!"

"But we ought to wake him," said Mariette. "My brother won't makelight of it, nor his master either."

"Oh, wake him if you can, and carry him off with you!" saidFlorentine, returning to the salon to receive the adieux of somedeparting guests.

Presently those who remained began what was called "characterdancing," and by the time it was broad daylight, Florentine, tiredout, went to bed, oblivious to Oscar, who was still in the boudoirsound asleep.