"How?"

"Let me be your rival."

"Just as you please," replied the princess. "I've decided on my
course. Genius is a condition of the brain; I don't know what the
heart gets out of it; we'll talk about that later."

Hearing the last few words, which were wholly incomprehensible to her,
Madame d'Espard returned to the general conversation, showing neither
offence at that indifferent "As you please," nor curiosity as to the
outcome of the interview. The princess stayed an hour longer, seated
on the sofa near the fire, in the careless, nonchalant attitude of
Guerin's Dido, listening with the attention of an absorbed mind, and
looking at Daniel now and then, without disguising her admiration,
which never went, however, beyond due limits. She slipped away when
the carriage was announced, with a pressure of the hand to the
marquise, and an inclination of the head to Madame de Montcornet.

The evening concluded without any allusion to the princess. The other
guests profited by the sort of exaltation which d'Arthez had reached,
for he put forth the treasures of his mind. In Blondet and Rastignac
he certainly had two acolytes of the first quality to bring forth the
delicacy of his wit and the breadth of his intellect. As for the two
women, they had long been counted among the cleverest in society. This
evening was like a halt in the oasis of a desert,--a rare enjoyment,
and well appreciated by these four persons, habitually victimized to
the endless caution entailed by the world of salons and politics.
There are beings who have the privilege of passing among men like
beneficent stars, whose light illumines the mind, while its rays send