ien's progress and needs. Thus
_Trompe-la-Mort_ did not let out his last secret till the habit of
Parisian pleasures and success, and gratified vanity, had enslaved the
weak-minded poet body and soul. Where Rastignac, when tempted by this
demon, had stood firm, Lucien, better managed, and more ingeniously
compromised, succumbed, conquered especially by his satisfaction in
having attained an eminent position. Incarnate evil, whose poetical
embodiment is called the Devil, displayed every delightful seduction
before this youth, who was half a woman, and at first gave much and
asked for little. The great argument used by Carlos was the eternal
secret promised by Tartufe to Elmire.

The repeated proofs of absolute devotion, such as that of Said to
Mahomet, put the finishing touch to the horrible achievement of Lucien's
subjugation by a Jacques Collin.

At this moment not only had Esther and Lucien devoured all the funds
intrusted to the honesty of the banker of the hulks, who, for their
sakes, had rendered himself liable to a dreadful calling to account, but
the dandy, the forger, and the courtesan were also in debt. Thus, as the
very moment of Lucien's expected success, the smallest pebble under
the foot of either of these three persons might involve the ruin of the
fantastic structure of fortune so audaciously built up.

At the opera ball Rastignac had recognized the man he had known as
Vautrin at Madame Vauquer's; but he knew that if he did not hold his
tongue, he was a dead man. So Madame de Nucingen's lover and Lucien
had exchanged glances in which fear lurked, on both sides, under an
expression of amity. In the moment of danger, Rastignac, it is clear,
would have been delighted to provide the vehicle that should convey
Jacques Collin to the scaffold. From all this it may be understood that
Carlos heard of the Baron's passion with a glow of sombre satisfaction,
while he perceived in a single flash all the advantage a man of his
temper might derive by means of a hapless Esther.

"Go on," said he to Lucien. "The Devil is mindful of his chaplain."

"You are smoking on a powder barrel."

"Incedo per ignes," replied Carlos with a smile. "That is my trade."

The House of Grandlieu divided into two branches about the middle of the
last century: first, the ducal line destined to lapse, since the present
duke has only daughters; and then the Vicomtes de Grandlieu, who will
now inherit the title and armorial bearings o