Heir? Du Ronceret of Alencon."

"Monsieur," said Maxime to Fabien, "I think you must know my friend
d'Esgrignon?"

"Victurnien has ceased to know me for some time," replied Fabien, "but
we used to be very intimate in our youth."

The dinner was one of those which are given nowhere but in Paris
by these great female spendthrifts, for the choiceness of their
preparations often surprise the most fastidious of guests. It was at
just such a supper, at the house of a courtesan as handsome and rich as
Madame Schontz, that Paganini declared he had never eaten such fare at
the table of any sovereign, nor drunk such wines with any prince, nor
heard such witty conversation, nor seen the glitter of such coquettish
luxury.

Maxime and Madame Schontz were the first to re-enter the salon, about
ten o'clock, leaving the other guests, who had ceased to tell anecdotes
and were now boasting of their various good qualities, with their
viscous lips glued to the glasses which they could not drain.

"Well, my dear," said Maxime, "you are not mistaken; yes, I have come
for your _beaux yeux_ and for help in a great affair. You must leave
Arthur; but I pledge myself to make him give you two hundred thousand
francs."

"Why should I leave the poor fellow?"

"To marry that idiot, who seems to have been sent from Alencon
expressly for the purpose. He has been a judge, and I'll have him made
chief-justice in place of Emile Blondet's father, who is getting to be
eighty years old. Now, if you know how to sail your boat, your husband
can be elected deputy. You will both be personages, and you can then
look down on Madame la Comtesse du Bruel."

"Never!" said Madame Schontz; "she's a countess."

"Hasn't he condition enough to be made a count?"

"By the bye, he bears arms," cried Aurelie, hunting for a letter in an
elegant bag hanging at the corner of the fireplace, and giving it to
Maxime. "What do they mean? Here are combs."

"He bears: per fesse argent and azure; on the first, three combs gules,
two and one, crossed by three bunches grapes purpure, leaved vert, one
and two; on the second, four feathers or, placed fretwise, with _Servir_
for motto, and a squire's helmet. It is not much; it seems they were
ennobled under Louis XIV.; some mercer was doubtless their grandfather,
and the maternal line must have made its money in wines; the du Ronceret
whom the king ennobled was probably an usher. But if you get rid of
Arthur and marry du Ronc