by the severe
climate of Saint-Petersburg, had placed on Maximilien's head the
hereditary plumes of the French peer's hat. His fortune matched his
learning and his merits; only the day before his youthful and fervid
eloquence had dazzled the Assembly. At this moment he stood before the
Countess, free, and graced with all the advantages she had formerly
required of her ideal. Every mother with a daughter to marry made
amiable advances to a man gifted with the virtues which they attributed
to him, as they admired his attractive person; but Emilie knew, better
than any one, that the Vicomte de Longueville had the steadfast nature
in which a wise woman sees a guarantee of happiness. She looked at the
admiral who, to use his favorite expression, seemed likely to hold his
course for a long time yet, and cursed the follies of her youth.

At this moment Monsieur de Persepolis said with Episcopal grace: "Fair
lady, you have thrown away the king of hearts--I have won. But do not
regret your money. I keep it for my little seminaries."

PARIS, December 1829.

ADDENDUM

The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.

Beaudenord, Godefroid de
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
The Firm of Nucingen

Dudley, Lady Arabella
The Lily of the Valley
The Magic Skin
The Secrets of a Princess
A Daughter of Eve
Letters of Two Brides

Fontaine, Comte de
The Chouans
Modeste Mignon
Cesar Birotteau
The Government Clerks

Kergarouet, Comte de
The Purse
Ursule Mirouet

Louis XVIII., Louis-Stanislas-Xavier
The Chouans
The Seamy Side of History
The Gondreville Mystery
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
The Lily of the Valley
Colonel Chabert
The Government Clerks

Manerville, Paul Francois-Joseph, Comte de
The Thirteen
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
A Marriage Settlement

Marsay, Henri de
The Thirteen
The Unconscious Humorists
Another Study of Woman
The Lily of the Valley
Father Goriot
Jealousies of a Country Town
Ursule Mirouet
A Marriage Settlement
Lost Illusions
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
Letters of Two Brides
Modest Mignon
The Secrets of a Princess
The Gondrevil