himself from
laughing when people declared that General Daumont de Croisailles was
a first-rate rider, who was really fond of danger.

A rider! That was almost like writing history! But the aide-de-camp
discreetly kept up the illusion, outdid the others in flattery, and
related unheard-of feats of the General's horsemanship.

And, after all, breaking in horses was not more irksome than carrying on
a monotonous and dull correspondence about the buttons on the gaiters, or
than thinking over projects of mobilization, or than going through
accounts in which he lost himself like in a labyrinth. He had not, from
the very first day that he entered the military academy at Saint-Cyr,
learned that sentence which begins the rules of the _Interior Service_,
in vain:

"As discipline constitutes the principal strength of an army, it is very
important for every superior to obtain absolute respect, and instant
obedience from his inferiors."

He did not resist, but accustomed himself thus to become a sort of
Monsieur Loyal, spoke to his chief in the most flattering manner, and
reckoned on being promoted over the heads of his fellow officers.

General Daumont de Croisailles was not married and did not intend to
disturb the tranquillity of his bachelor life as long as he lived, for
he loved all women, whether they were dark, fair or red-haired, too
passionately to love only one, who would grow old, and worry him with
useless complaints.

Gallant, as they used to be called in the good old days, he kissed the
hands of those women who refused him their lips, and as he did not wish
to compromise his dignity, and be the talk of the town, he had rented a
small house just outside it.

It was close to the canal, in a quiet street with courtyards and shady
gardens, and as nothing is less amusing than the racket of jealous
husbands, or the brawling of excited women who are disputing or raising
their voices in lamentation, and as it is always necessary to foresee
some unfortunate incident or other in the amorous life, some unlucky
mishap, some absurdly imprudent action, some forgotten love appointment,
the house had five different doors.

So discreet, that he reassured even the most timid, and certainly not
given to melancholy, he understood extremely well how to vary his kisses
and his ways of proceeding; how to work on women's feelings, and to
overcome their scruples, to obtain a hold over them through their
curiosity to learn something