Two years after her marriage, in one of the old drawing-rooms in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, where she was admired for her character, worthy of the old school, Emilie heard the Vicomte de Longueville announced. In the corner of the room where she was sitting, playing piquet with the Bishop of Persepolis, her agitation was not observed; she turned her head and saw her former lover come in, in all the freshness of youth. His father’s death, and then that of his brother, killed by the severe climate of Saint-Petersburg, had placed on Maximilien’s head the hereditary plumes of the French peer’s hat. His fortune matched his learning and his merits; only the day before his youthful and fervid eloquence had dazzled the Assembly. At this moment he stood before the Countess, free, and graced with all the advantages she had formerly required of her ideal. Every mother with a daughter to marry made amiable advances to a man gifted with the virtues which they attributed to him, as they admired his attractive person; but Emilie knew, better than any one, that the Vicomte de Longueville had the steadfast nature in which a wise woman sees a guarantee of happiness. She looked at the admiral who, to use his favorite expression, seemed likely to hold his course for a long time yet, and cursed the follies of her youth. At this moment Monsieur de Persepolis said with Episcopal grace: “Fair lady, you have thrown away the king of hearts--I have won. But do not regret your money. I keep it for my little seminaries.” PARIS, December 1829. ADDENDUM The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. Beaudenord, Godefroid de A Distinguished Provincial at Paris The Firm of Nucingen Dudley, Lady Arabella The Lily of the Valley The Magic Skin The Secrets of a Princess A Daughter of Eve Letters of Two Brides Fontaine, Comte de The Chouans Modeste Mignon Cesar Birotteau The Government Clerks Kergarouet, Comte de The Purse Ursule Mirouet Louis XVIII., Louis-Stanislas-Xavier The Chouans The Seamy Side of History The Gondreville Mystery Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life The Lily of the Valley Colonel Chabert The Government Clerks Manerville, Paul Francois-Joseph, Comte de The Thirteen Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris A Marriage Settlement Marsay, Henri de The Thirteen The Unconscious Humorists Another Study of Woman The Lily of the Valley Father Goriot Jealousies of a Country Town Ursule Mirouet A Marriage Settlement Lost Illusions A Distinguished Provincial at Paris Letters of Two Brides Modest Mignon The Secrets of a Princess The Gondreville Mystery A Daughter of Eve