h anything,
they can dismiss me. Perhaps I may have a child. If so, I shall be stern
with him; his mother will be rich; I'll make him a minister, perhaps an
ambassador."

"Here is my answer," said Rastignac. "An incessant battle is going
on--greater than common people who are not in it have any idea
of--between power in its swaddling-clothes and power in its childhood.
Power in swaddling-clothes is the Chamber of Deputies which, not being
restrained by an hereditary chamber--"

"Ha! ha!" said Maxime, "you are now a peer of France."

"I should say the same if I were not," said the new peer. "But don't
interrupt me; you are concerned in all this. The Chamber of Deputies is
fated to become the whole government, as de Marsay used to tell us (the
only man by whom France could have been saved), for peoples don't die;
they are slaves or free men, and that's all. Child-power is the royalty
that was crowned in August, 1830. The present ministry is beaten; it
dissolves the Chamber and brings on a general election in order to
prevent the coming ministry from calling one; but it does not expect a
victory. If it were victorious in these elections, the dynasty would be
in danger; whereas, if the ministry is beaten, the dynastic party can
fight to advantage for a long time. The mistakes of the Chamber will
turn to the profit of a will which wants, unfortunately, to be the whole
political power. When a ruler is that whole, as Napoleon was, there
comes a moment when he must supplement himself; and having by that
time alienated superior men, he, the great single will, can find no
assistant. That assistant ought to be what is called a cabinet; but
there is no cabinet in France, there is only a Will with a life lease.
In France it is the government that is blamed, the opposition never; it
may lose as many battles as it fights, but, like the allies in 1814, one
victory suffices. With 'three glorious days' it overturned and destroyed
everything. Therefore, if we are heirs of power, we must cease to
govern, and wait. I belong by my personal opinions to the aristocracy,
and by my public opinions to the royalty of July. The house of Orleans
served me to raise the fortunes of my family, and I shall ever remain
attached to it."

"The 'ever' of Monsieur de Talleyrand, be it understood," put in Maxime.

"At this moment I can't do anything for you," continued Rastignac. "We
shall not be in power more than six months longer. Yes, those six month