"Now," said Derville to himself, as he got into his cab again, "let us
call on our opponent. We must not show our hand, but try to see hers,
and win the game at one stroke. She must be frightened. She is a
woman. Now, what frightens women most? A woman is afraid of nothing
but . . ."

And he set to work to study the Countess' position, falling into one
of those brown studies to which great politicians give themselves up
when concocting their own plans and trying to guess the secrets of a
hostile Cabinet. Are not attorneys, in a way, statesmen in charge of
private affairs?

But a brief survey of the situation in which the Comte Ferraud and his
wife now found themselves is necessary for a comprehension of the
lawyer's cleverness.

Monsieur le Comte Ferraud was the only son of a former Councillor in
the old /Parlement/ of Paris, who had emigrated during the Reign of
Terror, and so, though he saved his head, lost his fortune. He came
back under the Consulate, and remained persistently faithful to the
cause of Louis XVIII., in whose circle his father had moved before the
Revolution. He thus was one of the party in the Faubourg Saint-Germain
which nobly stood out against Napoleon's blandishments. The reputation
for capacity gained by the young Count--then simply called Monsieur
Ferraud--made him the object of the Emperor's advances, for he was
often as well pleased at his conquests among the aristocracy as at
gaining a battle. The Count was promised the restitution of his title,
of such of his estates as had not been sold, and he was shown in
perspective a place in the ministry or as senator.