s bachelor
quarters on the Quai Malaquais, to be near the Rue Taitbout, and his
adviser was lodging under the same roof on the fourth floor. Lucien kept
only one horse to ride and drive, a man-servant, and a groom. When he
was not dining out, he dined with Esther.

Carlos Herrera kept such a keen eye on the service in the house on the
Quai Malaquais, that Lucien did not spend ten thousand francs a year,
all told. Ten thousand more were enough for Esther, thanks to the
unfailing and inexplicable devotion of Asie and Europe. Lucien took the
utmost precautions in going in and out at the Rue Taitbout. He never
came but in a cab, with the blinds down, and always drove into the
courtyard. Thus his passion for Esther and the very existence of the
establishment in the Rue Taitbout, being unknown to the world, did him
no harm in his connections or undertakings. No rash word ever escaped
him on this delicate subject. His mistakes of this sort with regard
to Coralie, at the time of his first stay in Paris, had given him
experience.

In the first place, his life was marked by the correct regularity under
which many mysteries can be hidden; he remained in society every night
till one in the morning; he was always at home from ten till one in the
afternoon; then he drove in the Bois de Boulogne and paid calls
till five. He was rarely seen to be on foot, and thus avoided old
acquaintances. When some journalist or one of his former associates
waved him a greeting, he responded with a bow, polite enough to avert
annoyance, but significant of such deep contempt as killed all French
geniality. He thus had very soon got rid of persons whom he would rather
never have known.

An old-established aversion kept him from going to see Madame d'Espard,
who often wished to get him to her house; but when he met her at those
of the Duchesse de Maufrigneuse, of Mademoiselle des Touches, of the
Comtesse de Montcornet or elsewhere, he was always exquisitely polite
to her. This hatred, fully reciprocated by Madame d'Espard, compelled
Lucien to act with prudence; but it will be seen how he had added fuel
to it by allowing himself a stroke of revenge, which gained him indeed a
severe lecture from Carlos.

"You are not yet strong enough to be revenged on any one, whoever it may
be," said the Spaniard. "When we are walking under a burning sun we do
not stop to gather even the finest flowers."

Lucien was so genuinely superior, and had so fine a future