ring was intensely excited--and I was simply crazed."

However, his defeat did not affect him very deeply. It was
forgotten at thought of the inheritance which his friend Coralth
had spoken to him about. And to-morrow M. de Coralth would tell
him the secret. He had only twenty hours longer to wait!" To-
morrow! to-morrow!" he said to himself again and again, with a
thrill of mingled joy and impatience. And what bright visions of
future glory haunted him! He saw himself the possessor of a
magnificent stud, of sufficient wealth to gratify every fancy; he
would splash mud upon all the passers-by, and especially upon his
former acquaintances, as he dashed past them in his superb
equipage; the best tailor should invent astonishing garments for
him; he would make himself conspicuous at all the first
performances in a stage-box, with the most notorious women in
Paris; his fetes would be described in the papers; he would be the
continual subject of comment; he would be credited with splendid,
perfect "form."

It is true that M. de Coralth had promised him all this, without a
word of explanation; but what did that matter? Should he doubt his
friend's word? Never! The viscount was not merely his model, but
his oracle as well. By the way in which he spoke of him, it might
have been supposed that they had been friends from their
childhood, or, at least, that they had known each other for years.
Such was not the case, however. Their acquaintance dated only
seven or eight months back, and their first meeting had apparently
been the result of chance; though it is needless to say, perhaps,
that this chance had been carefully prepared by M. de Coralth.
Having discovered Madame Lia d'Argeles's secret, the viscount