or of this progress to
himself. One can scarcely explain how it happens that this individual,
who calls himself "the dressmaker of the queens of Europe," has become
the arbiter of Parisian elegance; but it is an undeniable fact that
he does reign over fashion. He decrees the colors that shall be worn,
decides whether dresses shall be short or long, whether paniers shall
be adopted or discarded, whether ruches and puffs and flowers shall be
allowed, and in what form; and his subjects, the so-called elegant women
of Paris, obey him implicitly.

Madame d'Argeles would personally have preferred less finery, perhaps,
but it would not have done for her to be out of the fashion. She wore an
imperceptible hat, balanced on an immense pyramidal chignon, from which
escaped a torrent of wavy hair. "What a beautiful woman!" exclaimed the
dazzled Chupin, and indeed, seen from this distance, she did not look a
day more than thirty-five--an age when beauty possesses all the alluring
charm of the luscious fruit of autumn. She was giving orders for the
drive, and her coachman, with a rose in his buttonhole, listened while
he reined in the spirited horse. "The weather's superb," added Chupin.
"She'll no doubt drive round the lakes in the Bois de Boulogne----"

"Ah, she's off!" interrupted M. Fortunat. "Run, Victor, run! and
don't be miserly as regards carriage hire; all your expenses shall be
liberally refunded you."

Chupin was already far away. Madame d'Argeles's horse went swiftly
enough, but the agent's emissary had the limbs and the endurance of a
stag, and he kept pace with the victoria without much difficulty. And
as he ran along, his brain was busy. "If I don't take a cab," he said to
himself, "if I follow the woman on foot, I shall have a perfect right to
pocket the forty-five sous an hour--fifty, counting the gratuity--that a
cab would cost."

But on reaching the Champ Elysees, he discovered, to his regret,
that this plan was impracticable, for on running down the Avenue de
l'Imperatrice after the rapidly driven carriage, he could not fail to
attract attention. Stifling a sigh of regret, and seeing a cab at a
stand near by, he hastily hailed it. "Where do you want to go, sir?"
inquired the driver.

"Just follow that blue victoria, in which a handsome lady is seated, my
good fellow."

The order did not surprise the cabman, but rather the person who gave
it; for in spite of his fine apparel, Chupin did not seem quite the
m