many painful memories. There
were certain roads and lanes which she could never pass without a pang
at her heart. On the other hand, it was well known that the count had
sworn he would end his life in the province. He hated large cities; and
the mere idea of leaving his castle, where every thing was arranged to
suit his habits, made him seriously angry.

People would not believe it, therefore, when report first arose that
he was going to leave Ville-Handry, that he had bought a town-house
in Paris and that he would shortly go there to establish himself
permanently in the capital.

"It was much against the will of the countess," he said, full of delight
at her disappointment. "She would not agree to it at all; but I am not a
weather-cock. I insisted on having my way, and she yielded at last."

So that in the latter part of October, in 1851, the Count and the
Countess Ville-Handry moved into the magnificent house in Varennes
Street, a princely mansion, which, however, did not cost them more than
a third of its actual value, as they happened to buy at a time when real
estate was very low.

But it had been comparatively child's play to bring the count to Paris;
the real difficulty was to keep him there. Nothing was more likely than
that, deprived of the active exercise and the fresh air he enjoyed in
the country, he should miss his many occupations and duties, and either
succumb to weariness, or seek refuge in dissipation. His wife foresaw
this difficulty, and looked for an object that might give the count
abundant employment and amusement.

Already before leaving home she had dropped in his mind the seed of
that passion, which, in a man of fifty, can take the place of all
others,--ambition. Thus he came to Paris with the secret desire and the
hope of becoming a leader in politics, and making his mark in some great
affair of state.

The countess however, aware of the dangers which beset a man who
ventures upon such slippery ground, determined first to examine the
condition of things so as to be able to warn him in time. Fortunately
her fortune and her name were of great service to her in this
enterprise. She managed to assemble at her house all the celebrities of
the day. Her relations helped her; and soon her Wednesdays and Saturdays
became famous in Paris. People exerted themselves to the utmost to
obtain an invitation to her state dinners, or her smaller parties on
Sundays. Her house in Varennes Street was looked