ng taken place between them:

"Sir," said the baron to the banker, "you have now been master of
Paris for twenty-four hours. Do you wish to save the monarchy?"

"Which monarchy?" inquired Lafitte, "the monarchy of 1789, or the
constitutional monarchy of 1814?"

"The constitutional monarchy," the baron replied.

"To save it," rejoined Lafitte, "only one course remains; and that is
to crown the Duke of Orleans."

"The Duke of Orleans!" exclaimed the baron, "what are his titles to
the crown? That boy, the son of Napoleon, whom Vienna has educated,
can at least invoke the memory of his father's glory. It must be
admitted that Napoleon has written his annals in characters of fire
upon the minds of men. But the Duke of Orleans--what prestige
surrounds him? What has he done? How many of the people know his
history, or have even heard his name?"

"In the fact of his want of renown," replied the banker, "I see a
recommendation. Having no influence over the imagination, he will be
the less able to break away from the restraints of a constitutional
monarch. His private life is irreproachable. He has respected himself
in his wife, and has caused himself to be revered and loved by his
children."

"Mere domestic virtues," rejoined M. Glandeves, "are not to be
recompensed by a crown. Are you ignorant that he is accused of
approving of the vote of his father for the death of Louis XVI.; that
in our dark days he associated himself with projects to exclude
forever from the throne the legitimate heirs; that during the Hundred
Days he preserved a mysterious inaction; that, since 1815, while
pretending to be the humble servant of the court, he has been the
secret fomenter of all intrigues? Louis XVIII. restored to him his
vast estates. Charles X., by a personal request to the Chambers,
secured them to him, by legal and irrefragable rights, and conferred
upon him the title of royal highness, which he so long coveted. How
can he now, thus burdened with kindnesses from the elder branch of
the Bourbons, seize upon their inheritance?"

"It is not for the personal interest of the duke," replied M.
Lafitte, "that we wish to place him upon the throne, but for the
salvation of the country. This alone can save us from anarchy, which
otherwise seems inevitable. I do not ask whether the situation of the
Duke of Orleans is painful to his feelings, but simply whether his
accession to the throne is desirable for France. What prince is more
libe