sordid vice of avarice.

His past life might, in some degree, offer an explanation of this
conduct. Born in 1780, the Duke de Champdoce had joined the band of
emigrants which swelled the ranks of Conde's army. An implacable opposer
of the Revolution, he resided, during the glorious days of the Empire,
in London, where dire poverty compelled him to gain a livelihood as a
fencing master at the Restoration. He came back with the Bourbons to
his native land, and, by an almost miraculous chance, was put again in
possession of his ancestral domains. But in his opinion he was living
in a state of utter destitution as compared to the enormous revenues
enjoyed by the dead-and-gone members of the Champdoce family; and what
pained him more was to see rise up by the side of the old aristocracy a
new race which had attached itself to commerce and entered into business
transactions. As he gazed upon the new order of things, the man whose
pride of birth and position almost amounted to insanity, conceived the
project to which he determined to devote the remainder of his life. He
imagined that he had discovered a means by which he could restore the
ancient house of Champdoce to all its former splendor and position. "I
can," said he, "by living like a peasant and resorting to no unnecessary
expense, treble my capital in twenty years; and if my son and my
grandson will only follow my example, the race of Champdoce will again
recover the proud position that it formerly held." Faithful to this idea,
he wedded, in 1820, although his heart was entirely untouched, a young
girl of noble birth but utterly devoid of beauty, though possessed of
a magnificent dowry. Their union was an extremely unhappy one, and many
persons did not hesitate to accuse the Duke of treating with harshness
and severity a young girl, who, having brought her husband five hundred
thousand francs, could not understand why she should be refused a new
dress when she urgently needed it. After twelve months of inconceivable