"And I," sighed George, "would rather act as a college tutor than devote the rest of my life to cattle breeding. We are at the end of our tether, unfortunately, and if we don't meet two rich girls before the close of the term, we shall be obliged to decamp, for Paris will be too hot for us." "Ah, well, we will go to one of the watering-places where heiresses are met." "You are always so confident!" "That is the only way to succeed. If our friend Pierre Dargental had become discouraged, we shouldn't now be going to celebrate the close of his bachelor life at lunch. Dargental is no better than we are, and yet he has found a widow of title worth more than a million francs." "And all he brings her on his side will be his debts--some three hundred thousand francs." "Oh! in this part of the world, a man shrewd enough to obtain credit to that amount can aspire to anything--" "Except to the hand of an honest woman," replied George. "There are some pretty hard stories about this Countess de Lescombat's behaviour after her first husband's death." "Well, they say she accepted Dargental's offer of marriage before her period of mourning expired. She consoled herself a little too soon, perhaps, but that is a matter of no consequence, after all." "All the same, I should much prefer a less wealthy and more innocent girl to a rich lady of rank, with a very doubtful reputation." "But one can't always have one's choice in such matters. Dargental is about to enter a very wealthy set. He will introduce us to it, and we ought to succeed in finding what we want there. So it does not become us to find fault with him." "Will any of his old flames be at lunch to-day?" inquired George. "I believe that Blanche Pornic, the actress, is the only favoured one." "She is very amusing." "Yes; and thoroughly good-hearted." The vehicle had crossed over the Place du Carrousel, and was now behind five or six others, which had formed into a line to pass through the narrow passage conducting into the Rue de Rivoli. "Five minutes to twelve!" exclaimed Puymirol, glancing at his watch. "They will be at table by the time we reach the Lion d'Or. Why doesn't this idiot of a cabman drive faster?" "It isn't his fault. The block prevents him from doing so. There are at least half a dozen traps ahead of us."