“Ah, you know her? Who would have suspected my quiet friend of such an acquaintance? And so, you never hinted this to me. _Ma foi!_ I 'd have thought twice about throwing up my commission if I had seen her half an hour earlier. Come, tell me all you know of her. Where does she come from?” “Of her history I am totally ignorant; I can only tell you that her character is without a stain or reproach, in circumstances where few, if any save herself, ever walked scathless; that on more than one occasion she has displayed heroism worthy of the best among us.” “Oh dear, oh dear, how disappointed I am! Indeed, I half feared as much: she is a regular vivandière of the mélodrame,--virtuous, high-minded, and intrepid. You, of course, believe all this,--don't be angry, Burke,--but I don't; and the reason is I can't,--the gods have left me incredulous from the cradle. I have a rooted obstinacy about me, perfectly irreclaimable. Thus, I fancy Napoleon to be a Corsican; a modern marshal to be a promoted sergeant; a judge of the upper court to be a public prosecutor; and a vivandière of the _grande armée_--But I'll not offend,--don't be afraid, my poor fellow,--even at the risk of the rivalry. Upon my life, I 'm glad to see you have a heart susceptible of any little tenderness. But you cannot blame me if I 'm weary of this eternal travesty of character which goes on amongst us. Why will our Republican and _sans culotte_ friends try courtly airs and graces, while our real aristocracy stoop to the affected coarseness of the _canaille?_ Is it possible that they who wish to found a new order of things do not see that all these pantomime costumes and characters denote nothing but change,--that we are only performing a comedy after all? I scarcely expect it will be a five-act one. And, apropos of comedies,--when shall we pay our respects to Madame de Lacostellerie? It will require all my diplomacy to keep my ground there under my recent misfortune. Nothing short of a tender inquiry from the Duchesse de Montserrat will open the doors for me. Alas, and alas! I suppose I shall have to fall back on the Faubourg.” “But is the step irrevocable, Duchesne? Can you really bring yourself to forego a career which opened with such promise?” “And terminated with such disgrace,” added he, smiling placidly. “Nay, nay; don't affect to take it thus. Your services would have placed you high, and won for you honors and rank.”