footman announced,
"Monsieur le Vicomte de Coralth! Monsieur Pascal Ferailleur!"

Few of the players deigned to raise their heads. But one man growled,
"Good--two more players!" And four or five young men exclaimed, "Ah!
here's Ferdinand! Good evening, my dear fellow!"

M. de Coralth was very young and remarkably good-looking, almost too
good-looking, indeed; for his handsomeness was somewhat startling and
unnatural. He had an exceedingly fair complexion, and large, melting
black eyes, while a woman might have envied him his wavy brown hair
and the exquisite delicacy of his skin. He dressed with great care and
taste, and even coquettishly; his turn-down collar left his firm white
throat uncovered, and his rose-tinted gloves fitted as perfectly as the
skin upon his soft, delicate hands. He bowed familiarly on entering,
and with a rather complacent smile on his lips, he approached Madame
d'Argeles, who, half reclining in an easy chair near the fire-place,
was conversing with two elderly gentlemen of grave and distinguished
bearing. "How late you are, viscount," she remarked carelessly. "What
have you been doing to-day? I fancied I saw you in the Bois, in the
Marquis de Valorsay's dog-cart."

A slight flush suffused M. de Coralth's cheeks, and to hide it, perhaps,
he turned toward the visitor who had entered with him, and drew him
toward Madame d'Argeles, saying, "Allow me, madame, to present to you
one of my great friends, M. Pascal Ferailleur, an advocate whose name
will be known to fame some day."

"Your friends are always welcome at my house, my dear viscount," replied
Madame d'Argeles. And before Pascal had concluded his bow, she averted
her head, and resumed her interrupted conversation.

The new-comer, however, was worthy of more than that cursory notice. He
was a young man of five or six-and-twenty, dark-complexioned and tall;
each movement of his person was imbued with that natural grace which is
the result of perfect harmony of the muscles, and of more than common
vigor. His features were irregular, but they gave evidence of energy,
kindness of heart, and honesty of purpose. A man possessing such a
proud, intelligent, and open brow, such a clear, straightforward gaze,
and such finely-cut lips, could be no ordinary one. Deserted by his
sponsor, who was shaking hands right and left, he seated himself on a
sofa a little in the background; not because he was embarrassed, but
because he felt that instinctive dist