a, had finally inherited the
salon of Florine, now Madame Raoul Nathan, and of Madame Schontz, now
wife of Chief-Justice du Ronceret.

As he entered, Gazonal made one remark only, but that remark was both
legitimate and legitimist: "It is finer than the Tuileries!" The satins,
velvets, brocades, the gold, the objects of art that swarmed there,
so filled the eyes of the wary provincial that at first he did not
see Madame Jenny Cadine, in a toilet intended to inspire respect, who,
concealed behind Carabine, watched his entrance observingly, while
conversing with others.

"My dear child," said Leon to Carabine, "this is my cousin, a
manufacturer, who descended upon me from the Pyrenees this morning. He
knows nothing of Paris, and he wants Massol to help him in a suit he
has before the Council of State. We have therefore taken the liberty to
bring him--his name is Gazonal--to supper, entreating you to leave him
his full senses."

"That's as monsieur pleases; wine is dear," said Carabine, looking
Gazonal over from head to foot, and thinking him in no way remarkable.

Gazonal, bewildered by the toilets, the lights, the gilding, the chatter
of the various groups whom he thought to be discussing him, could only
manage to stammer out the words: "Madame--madame--is--very good."

"What do you manufacture?" said the mistress of the house, laughing.

"Say laces and offer her some guipure," whispered Bixiou in Gazonal's
ear.

"La-ces," said Gazonal, perceiving that he would have to pay for his
supper. "It will give me the greatest pleasure to offer you a dress--a
scarf--a mantilla of my make."

"Ah, three things! Well, you are nicer than you look to be," returned
Carabine.

"Paris has caught me!" thought Gazonal, now perceiving Jenny Cadine, and
going up to her.

"And I," said the actress, "what am I to have?"

"All I possess," replied Gazonal, thinking that to offer all was to give
nothing.

Massol, Claude Vignon, du Tillet, Maxime de Trailles, Nucingen, du
Bruel, Malaga, Monsieur and Madame Gaillard, Vauvinet, and a crowd of
other personages now entered.

After a conversation with the manufacturer on the subject of his suit,
Massol, without making any promises, told him that the report was not
yet written, and that citizens could always rely on the knowledge
and the independence of the Council of State. Receiving that cold and
dignified response, Gazonal, in despair, thought it necessary to set
about seducing the