circle in
which grave men were holding discussions. Madame Dambreuse resumed her
seat, and, bending over the arm of her chair, said to Frederick:

"I saw somebody the day before yesterday who was speaking to me about
you--Monsieur de Cisy. You know him, don't you?"

"Yes, slightly."

Suddenly Madame Dambreuse uttered an exclamation:

"Oh! Duchesse, what a pleasure to see you!"

And she advanced towards the door to meet a little old lady in a
Carmelite taffeta gown and a cap of guipure with long borders. The
daughter of a companion in exile of the Comte d'Artois, and the widow of
a marshal of the Empire; who had been created a peer of France in 1830,
she adhered to the court of a former generation as well as to the new
court, and possessed sufficient influence to procure many things. Those
who stood talking stepped aside, and then resumed their conversation.

It had now turned on pauperism, of which, according to these gentlemen,
all the descriptions that had been given were grossly exaggerated.

"However," urged Martinon, "let us confess that there is such a thing as
want! But the remedy depends neither on science nor on power. It is
purely an individual question. When the lower classes are willing to get
rid of their vices, they will free themselves from their necessities.
Let the people be more moral, and they will be less poor!"

According to M. Dambreuse, no good could be attained without a
superabundance of capital. Therefore, the only practicable method was to
intrust, "as the Saint-Simonians, however, proposed (good heavens!
there was some merit in their views--let us be just to everybody)--to
intrust, I say, the cause of progress to those who can increase the
public wealth." Imperceptibly they began to touch on great industrial
undertakings--the railways, the coal-mines. And M. Dambreuse, addressing
Frederick, said to him in a low whisper:

"You have not called about that business of ours?"

Frederick pleaded illness; but, feeling that this excuse was too absurd:

"Besides, I need my ready money."

"Is it to buy a carriage?" asked Madame Dambreuse, who was brushing past
him with a cup of tea in her hand, and for a minute she watched his face
with her head bent slightly over her shoulder.

She believed that he was Rosanette's lover--the allusion was obvious. It
seemed even to Frederick that all the ladies were staring at him from a
distance and whispering to one another.

In order to get a better