f more value than gold and silver; a knowledge
which exacts long study, probation, examinations, friends, enemies,
acquaintances, certain manners, elegance of form and demeanor, a
graceful and euphonious name,--a knowledge, moreover, which means
many love-affairs, duels, bets lost on a race-course, disillusions,
deceptions, annoyances, toils, and a vast variety of undigested
pleasures. In short, he had become what is called elegant. But in spite
of his mad extravagance he had never made himself a mere fashionable
man. In the burlesque army of men of the world, the man of fashion holds
the place of a marshal of France, the man of elegance is the equivalent
of a lieutenant-general. Paul enjoyed his lesser reputation,
of elegance, and knew well how to sustain it. His servants were
well-dressed, his equipages were cited, his suppers had a certain vogue;
in short, his bachelor establishment was counted among the seven or
eight whose splendor equalled that of the finest houses in Paris.

But--he had not caused the wretchedness of any woman; he gambled without
losing; his luck was not notorious; he was far too upright to deceive
or mislead any one, no matter who, even a wanton; never did he leave
his billets-doux lying about, and he possessed no coffer or desk for
love-letters which his friends were at liberty to read while he tied
his cravat or trimmed his beard. Moreover, not willing to dip into his
Guienne property, he had not that bold extravagance which leads to great
strokes and calls attention at any cost to the proceedings of a young
man. Neither did he borrow money, but he had the folly to lend to
friends, who then deserted him and spoke of him no more either for good
or evil. He seemed to have regulated his dissipations methodically. The
secret of his character lay in his father's tyranny, which had made him,
as it were, a social mongrel.

So, one morning, he said to a friend named de Marsay, who afterwards
became celebrated:--

"My dear fellow, life has a meaning."

"You must be twenty-seven years of age before you can find it out,"
replied de Marsay, laughing.

"Well, I am twenty-seven; and precisely because I am twenty-seven I mean
to live the life of a country gentleman at Lanstrac. I'll transport
my belongings to Bordeaux into my father's old mansion, and I'll spend
three months of the year in Paris in this house, which I shall keep."

"Will you marry?"

"I will marry."

"I'm your friend, as you know,