to the debit side of
Nucingen's account. Next day they drew their premium.

"The dainty little old Baroness d'Aldrigger was at breakfast with her
two daughters and Godefroid, when Rastignac came in with a diplomatic
air to steer the conversation on the financial crisis. The Baron
de Nucingen felt a lively regard for the d'Aldrigger family; he was
prepared, if things went amiss, to cover the Baroness' account with his
best securities, to wit, some shares in the argentiferous lead-mines,
but the application must come from the lady.

"'Poor Nucingen!' said the Baroness. 'What can have become of him?'

"'He is in Belgium. His wife is petitioning for a separation of her
property; but he had gone to see if he can arrange with some bankers to
see him through.'

"'Dear me! That reminds me of my poor husband! Dear M. de Rastignac, how
you must feel this, so attached as you are to the house!'

"'If all the indifferent are covered, his personal friends will be
rewarded later on. He will pull through; he is a clever man.'

"'An honest man, above all things,' said the Baroness.

"A month later, Nucingen met all his liabilities, with no formalities
beyond the letters by which creditors signified the investments which
they preferred to take in exchange for their capital; and with no action
on the part of other banks beyond registering the transfer of Nucingen's
paper for the investments in favor.

"While du Tillet, Werbrust, Claparon, Gigonnet, and others that thought
themselves clever were fetching in Nucingen's paper from abroad with a
premium of one per cent--for it was still worth their while to exchange
it for securities in a rising market--there was all the more talk on
the Bourse, because there was nothing now to fear. They babbled over
Nucingen; he was discussed and judged; they even slandered him. His
luxurious life, his enterprises! When a man has so much on his hands, he
overreaches himself, and so forth, and so forth.

"The talk was at its height, when several people were greatly astonished
to receive letters from Geneva, Basel, Milan, Naples, Genoa, Marseilles,
and London, in which their correspondents, previously advised of the
failure, informed them that somebody was offering one per cent for
Nucingen's paper! 'There is something up,' said the lynxes of the
Bourse.

"The Court meanwhile had granted the application for Mme. de Nucingen's
separation as to her estate, and the question became still more
complica