alm serenity
that may well be envied.

CHAPTER V.~~A DINNER WITH IDA.

The next day the Moronvals received from Madame de Barancy an invitation
for the following Monday; at the bottom of the note was a postscript,
expressing the pleasure she should have in receiving also M. d'Argenton.

"I shall not go," said the poet, dryly, when Moron-val handed him the
coquettish perfumed note. Then the principal grew very angry, as he saw
his plans frustrated. "Why would not D'Argenton accept the invitation?"

"Because," was the answer, "I never visit such women."

"You make a great mistake," said Moronval; "Madame de Barancy is not the
kind of person you imagine. Besides, to serve a friend, you should
lay aside your scruples. You see that I need the countess, that she is
disposed to look favorably on my Colonial Review, and you should do all
that lies in your power to favor my views. Come, now, think better of
it."

D'Argenton, after being properly entreated, finished by accepting the
invitation.

On the following Monday, therefore, Moronval and his wife left the
academy under the supervision of Dr. Hirsch, and presented themselves in
the Boulevard Haussmann, where the poet was to join them.

Dinner was at seven; D'Argenton did not arrive until half an hour past
the time. Ida was in a state of great anxiety. "Do you think he will
come?" she asked; "perhaps he is ill. He looks very delicate."

At last he appeared with the air of a conquering hero, making some
indifferent excuse for his lack of punctuality. His manner, however, was
less disdainful than usual, for the hotel had impressed him. Its luxury,
the flowers, and thick carpets; the little boudoir with its bouquets of
white lilacs; the commonplace salon, like a dentist's waiting-room, a
blue ceiling and gilded mouldings, the ebony furniture, cushioned with
gold color, and the balcony exposed to the dust of the boulevard,--all
charmed the attache of the Moronval Academy, and gave him a favorable
impression of wealth and high life.

The table equipage, the imposing effect produced by Augustin, in short,
all the luxurious details of the house, appealed to his senses, and
D'Argenton, without flattering the countess as openly as did Moronval;
yet succeeded in doing so in a more subtile manner, by thawing under her
influence to a very marked extent.

He was an interminable talker, and submitted with a very bad grace to
any interruption. He was arbitrary and egotist