THE COMMISSION IN LUNACY

BY

HONORE DE BALZAC



Translated By

Clara Bell



DEDICATION

Dedicated to Monsieur le Contre-Amiral Bazoche,
Governor of the Isle of Bourbon, by the grateful writer.
DE BALZAC.



In 1828, at about one o'clock one morning, two persons came out of
a large house in the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, near the
Elysee-Bourbon. One was the famous doctor, Horace Bianchon; the other
was one of the most elegant men in Paris, the Baron de Rastignac;
they were friends of long standing. Each had sent away his carriage,
and no cab was to be seen in the street; but the night was fine, and
the pavement dry.