bout in which man is never uppermost, I replace it by an insight into
all the springs of action in man and woman. To sum up, the world is
mine without effort of mine, and the world has not the slightest hold
on me. Listen to this,' he went on, 'I will tell you the history of my
morning, and you will divine my pleasures.'

"He got up, pushed the bolt of the door, drew a tapestry curtain
across it with a sharp grating sound of the rings on the rod, then he
sat down again.

"'This morning,' he said, 'I had only two amounts to collect; the
rest of the bills that were due I gave away instead of cash to my
customers yesterday. So much saved, you see, for when I discount a
bill I always deduct two francs for a hired brougham--expenses of
collection. A pretty thing it would be, would it not, if my clients
were to set _me_ trudging all over Paris for half-a-dozen francs of
discount, when no man is my master, and I only pay seven francs in the
shape of taxes?

"'The first bill for a thousand francs was presented by a young
fellow, a smart buck with a spangled waistcoat, and an eyeglass, and a
tilbury and an English horse, and all the rest of it. The bill bore
the signature of one of the prettiest women in Paris, married to a
Count, a great landowner. Now, how came that Countess to put her name
to a bill of exchange, legally not worth the paper it was written
upon, but practically very good business; for these women, poor
things, are afraid of the scandal that a protested bill makes in a
family, and would give themselves away in payment sooner than fail? I
wanted to find out what that bill of exchange really represented. Was
it stupidity, imprudence, love or charity?