had been forced to
leave. Madame de St James was ambitious, and would only have people of
rank about her--a weakness almost universal in persons of her class. The
humble members of the lower house had no charms for her. She wished to see
in her saloons the nobles and dignitaries of the land who had, at least,
the _grand entrees_ at Versailles. To say that many _cordons bleus_
visited the fair financier would be absurd; but it is certain she had
managed to gain the notice of several of the Rohan family, as came out
very clearly in the celebrated process of the necklace.

One evening, I think it was the 2d of August 1786, I was surprised to
encounter in her drawing-room two individuals, whose appearance did not
entitle them to the acquaintance of a person so exclusive as the
Treasurer's wife. She came to me in an embrasure of the window where I had
taken my seat.

"Tell me," I said, with a look towards one of the strangers, "who in the
world is that? How does such a being find his way here?"

"He is a charming person, I assure you."

"Oh--you see him through the spectacles of love!" I said, and smiled.

"You are not mistaken," she replied, smiling also. "He is horribly ugly,
no doubt, but he has rendered me the greatest service a man can do to
woman."

I laughed, and I suppose looked maliciously, for she hastily added--"He
has entirely cured me of those horrid eruptions in the face, that made my
complexion like a peasant's."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Oh--he's a quack!" I said.

"No, no," she answered, "he is a surgeon of good reputation. He is very
clever, I assure you; and, moreover, he is an author. He's an excellent
doctor."

"And the other?" I enquired.

"Who? What other?"

"The little fellow with the starched, stiff face--looking as sour as if he
had drunk verjuice."

"Oh! he is a man of good family. I don't know where he comes from. He is
engaged in some business of the Cardinal's, and it was his Eminence
himself who presented him to St James. Both parties have chosen St James
for umpire; in that, you will say, the provincial has not shown much
wisdom; but who can the people be who confide their interests to such a
creature? He is quiet as a lamb, and timid as a girl; but his Eminence
courts him--for the matter is of importance--three hundred thousand francs,
I believe."

"He's an attorney, then?"

"Yes," she replied; and, after the humiliating confession, took her seat
at the Faro table.

I w