go he came to see the beautiful blonde!"

"M. Palmer?"

"Yes, and he can tell you."

"Thanks, Mme. Picard, thanks--"

"Good-bye, prince, good-bye," and Mme. Picard went back to her stool,
near her colleague, Mme. Flachet, and said to her:

"Ah, my dear, what a charming man the prince is! True gentlefolks, there
is nothing like them! But they are dying out, they are dying out; there
are many less than formerly."

Prince Agenor was willing to do Palmer--big Palmer, rich Palmer, vain
Palmer--the honor of being one of his friends; he deigned, and very
frequently, to confide to Palmer his financial difficulties, and the
banker was delighted to come to his aid. The prince had been obliged to
resign himself to becoming a member of two boards of directors presided
over by Palmer, who was much pleased at having under obligations to him
the representative of one of the noblest families in France. Besides,
the prince proved himself to be a _good prince_, and publicly
acknowledged Palmer, showing himself in his box, taking charge of his
entertainments, and occupying himself with his racing-stable. He had
even pushed his gratitude to the point of compromising Mme. Palmer in
the most showy way.

"I am removing her from the middle class," he said; "I owe it to Palmer,
who is one of the best fellows in the world."

The prince found the banker alone in a lower box.

"What is the name--the name of that blonde in the Sainte Mesme's box?"

"Mme. Derline."

"Is there a M. Derline?"

"Certainly, a lawyer--my lawyer; the Sainte Mesme's lawyer. And if you
want to see Mme. Derline close to, come to my ball next Thursday. She
will be there--"

The wife of a lawyer!. She was only the wife of a lawyer! The prince sat
down in the front of the box, opposite Mme. Derline, and while looking
at that lawyeress he was thinking. "Have I," he said to himself,
"sufficient credit, sufficient power, to make of Mme. Derline the most
beautiful woman in Paris?"

For there was always a _most beautiful woman in Paris_, and it was he,
Prince Agenor, who flattered himself that he could discover, proclaim,
crown, and consecrate that most beautiful woman in Paris. Launch Mme.
Derline in society! Why not? He had never launched any one from the
middle class. The enterprise would be new, amusing, and bold. He looked
at Mme. Derline through his opera-glass, and discovered thousands of
beauties and perfections in her delightful face.

After the opera, t