y, 1829," cried du Tillet, laughing. "I
have been hard at work for ten years and I have not made as much as
that yet."

"We'll take counsel of each other," said Bridau; "you shall see how
well I understand finance."

"How much do you really own?" asked Nucingen.

"Three millions, excluding my house and my estate, which I shall not
sell; in fact, I cannot, for the property is now entailed and goes
with the title."

Nucingen and du Tillet looked at each other; after that sly glance du
Tillet said to Philippe, "My dear count, I shall be delighted to do
business with you."

De Marsay intercepted the look du Tillet had exchanged with Nucingen,
and which meant, "We will have those millions." The two bank magnates
were at the centre of political affairs, and could, at a given time,
manipulate matters at the Bourse, so as to play a sure game against
Philippe, when the probabilities might all seem for him and yet be
secretly against him.

The occasion came. In July, 1830, du Tillet and Nucingen had helped
the Comte de Brambourg to make fifteen hundred thousand francs; he
could therefore feel no distrust of those who had given him such good
advice. Philippe, who owed his rise to the Restoration, was misled by
his profound contempt for "civilians"; he believed in the triumph of
the Ordonnances, and was bent on playing for a rise; du Tillet and
Nucingen, who were sure of a revolution, played against him for a
fall. The crafty pair confirmed the judgment of the Comte de Brambourg
and seemed to share his convictions; they encouraged his hopes of
doubling his millions, and apparently took steps to help him. Philippe
fought like a man who had four millions depending on the issue of the
struggle. His devotion was so noticeable, that he received orders to
go to Saint-Cloud with the Duc de Maufrigneuse and attend a council.
This mark of favor probably saved Philippe's life; for when the order
came, on the 25th of July, he was intending to make a charge and sweep
the boulevards, when he would undoubtedly have been shot down by his
friend Giroudeau, who commanded a division of the assailants.

A month later, nothing was left of Colonel Bridau's immense fortune
but his house and furniture, his estates, and the pictures which had
come from Issoudun. He committed the still further folly, as he said
himself, of believing in the restoration of the elder branch, to which
he remained faithful until 1834. The not imcomprehensible jealousy