time that we stopped before a peristyle full of flowers. My heart beat
and my color rose as we went up the great carpeted staircase, and I
noticed about me all the studied refinements of English comfort; I
was infatuatedly bourgeois; I forgot my origin and all my personal and
family pride. Alas! I had but just left a garret, after three years
of poverty, and I could not just then set the treasures there acquired
above such trifles as these. Nor could I rightly estimate the worth of
the vast intellectual capital which turns to riches at the moment when
opportunity comes within our reach, opportunity that does not overwhelm,
because study has prepared us for the struggles of public life.

"I found a woman of about twenty-two years of age; she was of average
height, was dressed in white, and held a feather fire-screen in
her hand; a group of men stood around her. She rose at the sight
of Rastignac, and came towards us with a gracious smile and a
musically-uttered compliment, prepared no doubt beforehand, for me. Our
friend had spoken of me as a rising man, and his clever way of making
the most of me had procured me this flattering reception. I was confused
by the attention that every one paid to me; but Rastignac had luckily
mentioned my modesty. I was brought in contact with scholars, men
of letters, ex-ministers, and peers of France. The conversation,
interrupted a while by my coming, was resumed. I took courage, feeling
that I had a reputation to maintain, and without abusing my privilege,
I spoke when it fell to me to speak, trying to state the questions at
issue in words more or less profound, witty or trenchant, and I made a
certain sensation. Rastignac was a prophet for the thousandth time in
his life. As soon as the gathering was large enough to restore freedom
to individuals, he took my arm, and we went round the rooms.

"'Don't look as if you were too much struck by the princess,' he said,
'or she will guess your object in coming to visit her.'

"The rooms were furnished in excellent taste. Each apartment had a
character of its own, as in wealthy English houses; and the silken
hangings, the style of the furniture, and the ornaments, even the
most trifling, were all subordinated to the original idea. In a gothic
boudoir the doors were concealed by tapestried curtains, and the
paneling by hangings; the clock and the pattern of the carpet were made
to harmonize with the gothic surroundings. The ceiling, with its c