eartiness of
an artist, "I ask for her for my wife!" he exclaimed, looking at the
Baroness.

Adelaide looked at him with half-wrathful eyes, and Madame de Rouville,
somewhat astonished, was considering her reply, when the scene was
interrupted by a ring at the bell. The old vice-admiral came in,
followed by his shadow, and Madame Schinner. Having guessed the cause of
the grief her son vainly endeavored to conceal, Hippolyte's mother
had made inquiries among her friends concerning Adelaide. Very justly
alarmed by the calumnies which weighed on the young girl, unknown to the
Comte de Kergarouet, whose name she learned from the porter's wife, she
went to report them to the vice-admiral; and he, in his rage, declared
"he would crop all the scoundrels' ears for them."

Then, prompted by his wrath, he went on to explain to Madame Schinner
the secret of his losing intentionally at cards, because the Baronne's
pride left him none but these ingenious means of assisting her.

When Madame Schinner had paid her respects to Madame de Rouville,
the Baroness looked at the Comte de Kergarouet, at the Chevalier du
Halga--the friend of the departed Comtesse de Kergarouet--at Hippolyte,
and Adelaide, and said, with the grace that comes from the heart, "So we
are a family party this evening."

PARIS, May 1832

ADDENDUM

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

Bixiou, Jean-Jacques
A Bachelor's Establishment
The Government Clerks
Modeste Mignon
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
The Firm of Nucingen
The Muse of the Department
Cousin Betty
The Member for Arcis
Beatrix
A Man of Business
Gaudissart II.
The Unconscious Humorists
Cousin Pons

Bridau, Joseph
A Bachelor's Establishment
A Distinguished Provincial at Paris
A Start in Life
Modeste Mignon
Another Study of Woman
Pierre Grassou
Letters of Two Brides
Cousin Betty
The Member for Arcis

Halga, Chevalier du
Beatrix

Kergarouet, Comte de
The Ball at Sceaux
Ursule Mirouet

Molineux, Jean-Baptiste
A Second Home
Cesar Birotteau

Schinner, Hippolyte
A Bachelor's Establishment
Pierre Grassou
A Start in Life
Albert Savarus
The Government Clerks
Modeste Mignon
The