cien, amid the inextricable tangle of ambitions, had neither the
courage to draw sword and cut the knot, or the patience to unravel it.
He could not be the Beaumarchais, the Aretino, the Freron of his epoch;
he was not made of such stuff; he thought of nothing but his one
desire, the patent of nobility; for he saw clearly that for him such
a restoration meant a wealthy marriage, and, the title once secured,
chance and his good looks would do the rest. This was all his plan, and
Etienne Lousteau, who had confided so much to him, knew his secret, knew
how to deal a deathblow to the poet of Angouleme. That very night, as
Lucien and Merlin went to the Vaudeville, Etienne had laid a terrible
trap, into which an inexperienced boy could not but fall.

"Here is our handsome Lucien," said Finot, drawing des Lupeaulx in the
direction of the poet, and shaking hands with feline amiability. "I
cannot think of another example of such rapid success," continued Finot,
looking from des Lupeaulx to Lucien. "There are two sorts of success in
Paris: there is a fortune in solid cash, which any one can amass, and
there is the intangible fortune of connections, position, or a footing
in certain circles inaccessible for certain persons, however rich they
may be. Now my friend here----"

"Our friend," interposed des Lupeaulx, smiling blandly.

"Our friend," repeated Finot, patting Lucien's hand, "has made a
brilliant success from this point of view. Truth to tell, Lucien has
more in him, more gift, more wit than the rest of us that envy him, and
he is enchantingly handsome besides; his old friends cannot forgive him
for his success--they call it luck."

"Luck of that sort never comes to fools or incapables," said des
Lupeaulx. "Can you call Bonaparte's fortune luck, eh? There were a score
of applicants for the command of the army in Italy, just as there are a
hundred young men at this moment who would like to have an entrance
to Mlle. des Touches' house; people are coupling her name with yours
already in society, my dear boy," said des Lupeaulx, clapping Lucien
on the shoulder. "Ah! you are in high favor. Mme. d'Espard, Mme. de
Bargeton, and Mme. de Montcornet are wild about you. You are going to
Mme. Firmiani's party to-night, are you not, and to the Duchesse de
Grandlieu's rout to-morrow?"

"Yes," said Lucien.

"Allow me to introduce a young banker to you, a M. du Tillet; you ought
to be acquainted, he has contrived to make a great fort