the courtyard, threading his way among carriages, coachmen, and footmen. No one had paid any attention to him; and, if he had been suitably dressed, he might have entered the salons, and, perhaps, have played cards and danced, without attracting the notice of the host; for at such large functions, it not infrequently happens that the master of the house fails to see and speak with all of his guests.

But Dubourg stopped under the windows of the salon on the first floor, where dancing was in progress. In order to keep in the background, he had walked away from the brilliantly lighted steps and taken his stand in the shadow of a huge berlin, whence he could see the ball and distinguish the dancers.

He was tempted for a moment to enter the salon; but, upon glancing down at his dress, he realized that it was not an opportune moment to appear before monsieur le comte, who was a great stickler for etiquette. His coat was blue, with metal buttons; he wore high boots and a black cravat. That was a very suitable costume in which to play écarté and talk nonsense at Mademoiselle Delphine's, but it would have been exceedingly out of place at Monsieur de Montreville's reception.

"Ah! if I had kept my aunt's five hundred francs," he muttered again, as he turned his eyes from his costume to the ballroom, "I should have outshone all those fine clothes!"

As he watched the dancing and eyed the ladies through the windows, most of which were open because of the heat, Dubourg spied a table with a green cloth in a smaller salon, at which two middle-aged men had just taken their seats. They were soon surrounded by onlookers, and the table was covered with gold.

In order to obtain a better view of the small salon, Dubourg climbed up behind the carriage by which he was standing; there he could watch the game perfectly, and could see the hand of one of the players, who was sitting with his back to the window.

"How lucky they are!" he thought; "they are playing écarté. The deuce! it's a warm old game; at least thirty louis a side! If I still had my aunt's money, I could bet from here. What am I saying? If I ever touch cards again, may I be damned! Ah! there's the same hand that I lost my last game on; and I ought to have won it; I played according to rule. Well! what the devil is he doing? He's going to ask for cards!"

And Dubourg, oblivious of the fact that he was on top of a carriage in the courtyard, shouted:

"Don't take any cards! Play your hand, play it, I tell you! I'll answer for the point!"

The voice surprised the players beyond words. They turned and stared, and questioned each other.

"Who was that who undertook to advise me?" demanded the old man whose turn it was to play. "Has he got more at stake than I have, to give him the right to talk like that? Why don't you answer, messieurs?"

"The voice came from the courtyard," said a young man near the window.

"From the courtyard! from the courtyard! Do you mean to say that those rascally footmen presume to watch us play and to make remarks?"

And the old gentleman with the powdered head left his seat and looked into the courtyard. Dubourg jumped down from the carriage, and the shock woke the horses; whereupon they began to prance, and tried to run. The drowsy coachmen rubbed their eyes, thinking that the ball was over; those who were talking hurried to their seats, and those in the street, observing the commotion in the courtyard, did the same; while the coachman and footmen of the carriage on which Dubourg had perched struggled to pacify the horses.

Meanwhile, Dubourg had slunk away by the side of the house.

"It seems that I must always put my foot in it!" he muttered. "Here are thirty coachmen and as many footmen all stirred up, and a pair of horses have nearly trampled on me, just because I attempted to advise that old fellow who doesn't know how to play the game and was going to ask for cards when he ought to take every trick! That's the last time I'll ever meddle in other people's business."

As Dubourg crept along by the wall, he came to a door just as a servant came out to ascertain the cause of the noise in the courtyard. Dubourg recognized Frédéric's valet, and instantly accosted him.

"Where is your master, Germain?"

"Ah! is it you, monsieur?" said the servant, who had often seen Dubourg with his young master. "Have you come to the ball?"

"No, no; I have no desire to dance. Where is your master, I ask you?"

"Oh! Monsieur Frédéric is dancing. There are some beautiful women inside, and he's an amateur, you know."

"The deuce! I would like to speak with him; I have something very important to say to him, but I don't want to disturb him, or to go into the salon; I am not dressed."

"If you wish, monsieur, I will take you to Monsieur Frédéric's apartment; you can wait there comfortably until he retires."

"That's a delightful idea of yours, Germain; take me to Frédéric's apartment at once."

Germain took a candle and went before Dubourg, who was overjoyed to have found a place to finish the night. The valet, who had seen his master display great friendliness to Dubourg, was certain that he would not be reproved for what he was doing.

In due time, they arrived at the young man's apartment, which was so far from the ballroom that the music could barely be heard.

"Would you like me to tell my master that you are here?" inquired Germain, as he placed the candle on a table.

"No, it isn't worth while; I'll read while I am waiting. I am in no hurry at all now; let him dance as long as he pleases."

Germain left Dubourg alone; whereupon he stretched himself out in a luxurious easy-chair and tossed away the book he had taken up.

"To the devil with reading!" he said, assuming the position best adapted for a nap; "it's high time for me to rest; I have earned it. Dance, dance away! How comfortable it is in this chair, especially when one has been within an ace of sleeping in the street! Here am I installed under the roof of Monsieur le Comte de Montreville, a most respectable gentleman, who has at least thirty thousand francs a year, and just one son, whose friend I am, and whose education I aspire to finish; for they have stuffed a heap of rubbish into his head, and have neglected to teach him the most essential thing of all—knowledge of the human heart, and especially of the female heart. As I am decidedly well posted in that branch of knowledge, I propose to make something of our dear Frédéric, and to teach him to know the world; so that he may make his way, like me."

While he thus communed with himself, Dubourg began to nod, and before he had been in the easy-chair five minutes he was sleeping soundly.

II

THE COMTE DE MONTREVILLE.—AN EVENING PARTY IN SOCIETY

The Comte de Montreville was, at the time that we make his acquaintance, about sixty years old. The scion of a noble and wealthy family, he had served in the army, married, and retired from service, and had succeeded in coming safely through the tempests of the Revolution.

He was a short, slender man, with a cold, stern face which commanded respect. He did not lack intelligence, nor was he the slave of a mass of absurd prejudices of the sort that some old men were trying to make fashionable, like paniers and curly wigs. Monsieur de Montreville was not one of those men who insist on retrograding while others go forward; he followed the general current of the time, and, wise amid a multitude of fools, he blamed only those who, from a proneness to exaggeration, from selfishness, or from incapacity, muddied the waters of a stream which all the efforts of all mankind could not prevent from flowing.

But the count had been brought up strictly by his father. Accustomed early in life to unquestioning obedience, he desired his son to be no less submissive to him. At the age of six, young