et
that Paddy was a tame tigress. The description, on the heads of it,
was calculated to poison minds and end in something 'improper.' And
the superlative of 'improper' is the way to the gallows. Milord's
circumspection was highly approved by my lady.

"But poor Toby, now that his precise position in insular zoology had
been called in question, found himself hopelessly out of place. At that
time Godefroid had blossomed out at the French Embassy in London, where
he learned the adventures of Toby, Joby, Paddy. Godefroid found the
infant weeping over a pot of jam (he had already lost the guineas with
which milord gilded his misfortune). Godefroid took possession of him;
and so it fell out that on his return among us he brought back with him
the sweetest thing in tigers from England. He was known by his tiger--as
Couture is known by his waistcoats--and found no difficulty in entering
the fraternity of the club yclept to-day the Grammont. He had
renounced the diplomatic career; he ceased accordingly to alarm the
susceptibilites of the ambitious; and as he had no very dangerous amount
of intellect, he was well looked upon everywhere.

"Some of us would feel mortified if we saw only smiling faces wherever
we went; we enjoy the sour contortions of envy. Godefroid did not like
to be disliked. Every one has his taste. Now for the solid, practical
aspects of life!

"The distinguishing feature of his chambers, where I have licked my lips
over breakfast more than once, was a mysterious dressing-closet, nicely
decorated, and comfortably appointed, with a grate in it and a bath-tub.
It gave upon a narrow staircase, the folding doors were noiseless,
the locks well oiled, the hinges discreet, the window panes of frosted
glass, the curtain impervious to light. While the bedroom was, as
it ought to have been, in a fine disorder which would suit the most
exacting painter in water-colors; while everything therein was redolent
of the Bohemian life of a young man of fashion, the dressing-closet was
like a shrine--white, spotless, neat, and warm. There were no draughts
from door or window, the carpet had been made soft for bare feet hastily
put to the floor in a sudden panic of alarm--which stamps him as your
thoroughbred dandy that knows life; for here, in a few moments, he may
show himself either a noodle or a master in those little details in
which a man's character is revealed. The Marquise previously quoted--no,
it was the Marquise de