ore by seldom dining at home.

"Well, he is happy," said his mother; "he is easy in mind; he has a
place."

Through the influence of a feuilleton, edited by Vernou, a friend of
Bixiou, Finot, and Giroudeau, Mariette made her appearance, not at the
Panorama-Dramatique but at the Porte-Saint-Martin, where she triumphed
beside the famous Begrand. Among the directors of the theatre was a
rich and luxurious general officer, in love with an actress, for whose
sake he had made himself an impresario. In Paris, we frequently meet
with men so fascinated with actresses, singers, or ballet-dancers,
that they are willing to become directors of a theatre out of love.
This officer knew Philippe and Giroudeau. Mariette's first appearance,
heralded already by Finot's journal and also by Philippe's, was
promptly arranged by the three officers; for there seems to be
solidarity among the passions in a matter of folly.

The mischievous Bixiou was not long in revealing to his grandmother
and the devoted Agathe that Philippe, the cashier, the hero of heroes,
was in love with Mariette, the celebrated ballet-dancer at the
Porte-Saint-Martin. The news was a thunder-clap to the two widows;
Agathe's religious principles taught her to think that all women on
the stage were brands in the burning; moreover, she thought, and so
did Madame Descoings, that women of that kind dined off gold, drank
pearls, and wasted fortunes.

"Now do you suppose," said Joseph to his mother, "that my brother is
such a fool as to spend his money on Mariette? Such women only ruin
rich men."

"They talk of engaging Mariette at the Opera," said Bixiou. "Don't
be worried, Madame Bridau; the diplomatic body often comes to the
Porte-Saint-Martin, and that handsome girl won't stay long with your
son. I did hear that an ambassador was madly in love with her. By the
bye, another piece of news! Old Claparon is dead, and his son, who
has become a banker, has ordered the cheapest kind of funeral for him.
That fellow has no education; they wouldn't behave like that in
China."

Philippe, prompted by mercenary motives, proposed to Mariette that she
should marry him; but she, knowing herself on the eve of an engagement
at the Grand Opera, refused the offer, either because she guessed the
colonel's motive, or because she saw how important her independence
would be to her future fortune. For the remainder of this year,
Philippe never came more than twice a month to see his mother.