eur de Trailles, and asked his
assistance, while ostensibly asking only for his advice. Maxime listened
to the end without committing himself, and waited till the duchess
should ask point-blank for his co-operation before replying.

"Madame, I fully understand you," he then said, casting on her and the
marquis one of those shrewd, penetrating, astute, comprehensive glances
by which such great scamps compromise their interlocutors. "D'Ajuda
will tell you that if any one in Paris can conduct that difficult
negotiation, it is I,--of course without mixing you up in it; without
its being even known that I have come here this evening. Only, before
anything is done, we must settle preliminaries. How much are you willing
to sacrifice?"

"All that is necessary."

"Very well, then, Madame la duchesse. As the price of my efforts you
must do me the honor to receive in your house and seriously protect
Madame la Comtesse de Trailles."

"What! are you married?" cried d'Ajuda.

"I shall be married within a fortnight to the heiress of a rich but
extremely bourgeois family,--a sacrifice to opinion! I imbibe the very
spirit of my government, and start upon a new career. Consequently,
Madame la duchesse will understand how important it is to me to have my
wife adopted by her and by her family. I am certain of being made deputy
by the resignation of my father-in-law, and I am promised a diplomatic
post in keeping with my new fortune. I do not see why my wife should not
be as well received as Madame de Portenduere in that society of young
women which includes Mesdames de la Bastie, Georges de Maufrigneuse, de
L'Estorade, du Guenic, d'Ajuda, de Restaud, de Rastignac, de Vandenesse.
My wife is pretty, and I will undertake to _un-cotton-night-cap_ her.
Will this suit you, Madame la duchesse? You are religious, and if you
say yes, your promise, which I know to be sacred, will greatly aid in my
change of life. It will be one more good action to your account. Alas!
I have long been the king of _mauvais sujets_, and I want to make an
end of it. After all, we bear, azure, a wivern or, darting fire, ongle
gules, and scaled vert, a chief ermine, from the time of Francois I.,
who thought proper to ennoble the valet of Louis XI., and we have been
counts since Catherine de' Medici."

"I will receive and protect your wife," said the duchess, solemnly, "and
my family will not turn its back upon her; I give you my word."

"Ah! Madame la duchesse," c