Desaugiers, _song_; M. de Segur, _romance_. If they once forsake their
own line people no longer attach any value to what they do. So,
foppery, my friend Paul, is the sign of an incontestable power over
the female folk. A man who is loved by many women passes for having
superior qualities, and then, poor fellow, it is a question who shall
have him! But do you think it is nothing to have the right of going
into a drawing-room, of looking down at people from over your cravat,
or through your eye-glass, and of despising the most superior of men
should he wear an old-fashioned waistcoat? . . . Laurent, you are
hurting me! After breakfast, Paul, we will go to the Tuileries and see
the adorable girl with the golden eyes."

When, after making an excellent meal, the two young men had traversed
the Terrasse de Feuillants and the broad walk of the Tuileries, they
nowhere discovered the sublime Paquita Valdes, on whose account some
fifty of the most elegant young men in Paris where to be seen, all
scented, with their high scarfs, spurred and booted, riding, walking,
talking, laughing, and damning themselves mightily.

"It's a white Mass," said Henri; "but I have the most excellent idea
in the world. This girl receives letters from London. The postman must
be bought or made drunk, a letter opened, read of course, and a
love-letter slipped in before it is sealed up again. The old tyrant,
_crudel tirano_, is certain to know the person who writes the letters
from London, and has ceased to be suspicious of them."

The day after, De Marsay came again to walk on the Terrasse des
Feuillants, and saw Paquita Valdes; already passion had embellished
her for him. Seriously, he was wild for those eyes, whose rays seemed
akin to those which the sun emits, and whose ardor set the seal upon