he firm of
Adolphus and Company, Manheim), relict of the late Baron d'Aldrigger,
you might expect to find a stout, comfortable German, compact and
prudent, with a fair complexion mellowed to the tint of the foam on
a pot of beer; and as to virtues, rich in all the patriarchal good
qualities that Germany possesses--in romances, that is to say. Well
there was not a gray hair in the frisky ringlets that she wore on either
side of her face; she was still as fresh and as brightly colored on
the cheek-bone as a Nuremberg doll; her eyes were lively and bright; a
closely-fitting bodice set off the slenderness of her waist. Her brow
and temples were furrowed by a few involuntary wrinkles which, like
Ninon, she would fain have banished from her head to her heel, but they
persisted in tracing their zigzags in the more conspicuous place. The
outlines of the nose had somewhat fallen away, and the tip had reddened,
and this was the more awkward because it matched the color on the
cheek-bones.

"An only daughter and an heiress, spoilt by her father and mother,
spoilt by her husband and the city of Strasbourg, spoilt still by two
daughters who worshiped their mother, the Baroness d'Aldrigger indulged
a taste for rose color, short petticoats, and a knot of ribbon at the
point of the tightly-fitting corselet bodice. Any Parisian meeting the
Baroness on the boulevard would smile and condemn her outright; he does
not admit any plea of extenuating circumstances, like a modern jury on a
case of fratricide. A scoffer is always superficial, and in consequence
cruel; the rascal never thinks of throwing the proper share of ridicule
on society that made the individual what he is; for Nature only makes
dull animals of us, we owe the fool to artificial conditions."

"The thing that I admire about Bixiou is his completeness," said
Blondet; "whenever he is not gibing at others, he is laughing at
himself."

"I will be even with you for that, Blondet," returned Bixiou in a
significant tone. "If the little Baroness was giddy, careless, selfish,
and incapable in practical matters, she was not accountable for her
sins; the responsibility is divided between the firm of Adolphus and
Company of Manheim and Baron d'Aldrigger with his blind love for his
wife. The Baroness was a gentle as a lamb; she had a soft heart that was
very readily moved; unluckily, the emotion never lasted long, but it was
all the more frequently renewed.

"When the Baron died, for