guard will be composed of the
First Regiment of Zouaves and the Eighteenth Battalion of infantry. As
soon as these companies shall be prepared for war, this battalion will
proceed by the shortest route to Toulon; thence they will embark aboard
the Imperial on the twenty-sixth day of June next.'"

Arousing cheer drowned the end of the reading of this bulletin, the tenor
of which gave to Henri's aspiraitions an immediate and more advantageous
prospect immediate, because, as his company was the first to march, he
was assured of not remaining longer at the garrison; more advantageous,
because the dangers of a foreign expedition opened a much larger field
for his chances of promotion.

Consequently, less than a month remained to him in which to settle his
indebtedness. After the reading of the bulletin, he asked one of his
brother officers to take his place until evening, caught the first train
to town, and, alighting at the Bastille, went directly to the Hotel de
Montgeron, where he had temporary quarters whenever he chose to use them.

"Is the Duke at home?" he inquired of the Swiss.

Receiving an affirmative reply, he crossed the courtyard, and was soon
announced to his brother-in-law, the noble proprietor of La Sarthe,
deputy of the Legitimist opposition to the Corps Legislatif of the
Empire.

The Duc de Montgeron listened in silence to his relative's explanation of
his situation. When the recital was finished, without uttering a syllable
he opened a drawer, drew out a legal paper, and handed it to Henri,
saying:

"This is my marriage contract. Read it, and you will see that I have had,
from the head of my family, three hundred and fifteen thousand livres
income. I do not say this to you in order to contrast my riches with your
ruin, but only to prove to you that I was perfectly well able to marry
your sister even had she possessed no dot. That dot yields seven hundred
and fifteen thousand francs' income, at three per cent. We were married
under the law of community of goods, which greatly simplifies matters
when husband and wife have, as have Jeanne and myself, but one heart and
one way of looking at things. To consult her would be, perhaps, to injure
her. To-morrow I will sell the necessary stock, and ere the end of the
week Monsieur Durand, your notary and ours, shall hold at your disposal
the amount of the sum you lost last night."

The blood rose to the cheeks of the young officer.

"I--I" he stammered, pre