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certain monarchical old men; he had frankly modernized himself。 He was

always seen in a maroon…colored coat with gilt buttons; half…tight

breeches of poult…de…soie with gold buckles; a white waistcoat without

embroidery; and a tight cravat showing no shirt…collar;a last

vestige of the old French costume which he did not renounce; perhaps;

because it enabled him to show a neck like that of the sleekest abbe。

His shoes were noticeable for their square buckles; a style of which

the present generation has no knowledge; these buckles were fastened

to a square of polished black leather。 The chevalier allowed two

watch…chains to hang parallel to each other from each of his waistcoat

pockets;another vestige of the eighteenth century; which the

Incroyables had not disdained to use under the Directory。 This

transition costume; uniting as it did two centuries; was worn by the

chevalier with the high…bred grace of an old French marquis; the

secret of which is lost to France since the day when Fleury; Mole's

last pupil; vanished。



The private life of this old bachelor was apparently open to all eyes;

though in fact it was quite mysterious。 He lived in a lodging that was

modest; to say the best of it; in the rue du Cours; on the second

floor of a house belonging to Madame Lardot; the best and busiest

washerwoman in the town。 This circumstance will explain the excessive

nicety of his linen。 Ill…luck would have it that the day came when

Alencon was guilty of believing that the chevalier had not always

comported himself as a gentleman should; and that in fact he was

secretly married in his old age to a certain Cesarine;the mother of

a child which had had the impertinence to come into the world without

being called for。



〃He had given his hand;〃 as a certain Monsieur du Bousquier remarked;

〃to the person who had long had him under irons。〃



This horrible calumny embittered the last days of the dainty chevalier

all the more because; as the present Scene will show; he had lost a

hope long cherished to which he had made many sacrifices。



Madame Lardot leased to the chevalier two rooms on the second floor of

her house; for the modest sum of one hundred francs a year。 The worthy

gentleman dined out every day; returning only in time to go to bed。

His sole expense therefore was for breakfast; invariably composed of a

cup of chocolate; with bread and butter and fruits in their season。 He

made no fire except in the coldest winter; and then only enough to get

up by。 Between eleven and four o'clock he walked about; went to read

the papers; and paid visits。 From the time of his settling in Alencon

he had nobly admitted his poverty; saying that his whole fortune

consisted in an annuity of six hundred francs a year; the sole remains

of his former opulence;a property which obliged him to see his man

of business (who held the annuity papers) quarterly。 In truth; one of

the Alencon bankers paid him every three months one hundred and fifty

francs; sent down by Monsieur Bordin of Paris; the last of the

procureurs du Chatelet。 Every one knew these details because the

chevalier exacted the utmost secrecy from the persons to whom he first

confided them。



Monsieur de Valois gathered the fruit of his misfortunes。 His place at

table was laid in all the most distinguished houses in Alencon; and he

was bidden to all soirees。 His talents as a card…player; a narrator;

an amiable man of the highest breeding; were so well known and

appreciated that parties would have seemed a failure if the dainty

connoisseur was absent。 Masters of houses and their wives felt the

need of his approving grimace。 When a young woman heard the chevalier

say at a ball; 〃You are delightfully well…dressed!〃 she was more

pleased at such praise than she would have been at mortifying a rival。

Monsieur de Valois was the only man who could perfectly pronounce

certain phrases of the olden time。 The words; 〃my heart;〃 〃my jewel;〃

〃my little pet;〃 〃my queen;〃 and the amorous diminutives of 1770; had

a grace that was quite irresistible when they came from his lips。 In

short; the chevalier had the privilege of superlatives。 His

compliments; of which he was stingy; won the good graces of all the

old women; he made himself agreeable to every one; even to the

officials of the government; from whom he wanted nothing。 His behavior

at cards had a lofty distinction which everybody noticed: he never

complained; he praised his adversaries when they lost; he did not

rebuke or teach his partners by showing them how they ought to have

played。 When; in the course of a deal; those sickening dissertations

on the game would take place; the chevalier invariably drew out his

snuff…box with a gesture that was worthy of Mole; looked at the

Princess Goritza; raised the cover with dignity; shook; sifted; massed

the snuff; and gathered his pinch; so that by the time the cards were

dealt he had decorated both nostrils and replaced the princess in his

waistcoat pocket;always on his left side。 A gentleman of the 〃good〃

century (in distinction from the 〃grand〃 century) could alone have

invented that compromise between contemptuous silence and a sarcasm

which might not have been understood。 He accepted poor players and

knew how to make the best of them。 His delightful equability of temper

made many persons say;



〃I do admire the Chevalier de Valois!〃



His conversation; his manners; seemed bland; like his person。 He

endeavored to shock neither man nor woman。 Indulgent to defects both

physical and mental; he listened patiently (by the help of the

Princess Goritza) to the many dull people who related to him the petty

miseries of provincial life;an egg ill…boiled for breakfast; coffee

with feathered cream; burlesque details about health; disturbed sleep;

dreams; visits。 The chevalier could call up a languishing look; he

could take on a classic attitude to feign compassion; which made him a

most valuable listener; he could put in an 〃Ah!〃 and a 〃Bah!〃 and a

〃What DID you do?〃 with charming appropriateness。 He died without any

one suspecting him of even an allusion to the tender passages of his

romance with the Princess Goritza。 Has any one ever reflected on the

service a dead sentiment can do to society; how love may become both

social and useful? This will serve to explain why; in spite of his

constant winning at play (he never left a salon without carrying off

with him about six francs); the old chevalier remained the spoilt

darling of the town。 His losseswhich; by the bye; he always

proclaimed; were very rare。



All who know him declare that they have never met; not even in the

Egyptian museum at Turin; so agreeable a mummy。 In no country in the

world did parasitism ever take on so pleasant a form。 Never did

selfishness of a most concentrated kind appear less forth…putting;

less offensive; than in this old gentleman; it stood him in place of

devoted friendship。 If some one asked Monsieur de Valois to do him a

little service which might have discommoded him; that some one did not

part from the worthy chevalier without being truly enchanted with him;

and quite convinced that he either could not do the service demanded;

or that he should injure the affair if he meddled in it。



To explain the problematic existence of the chevalier; the historian;

whom Truth; that cruel wanton; grasps by the throat; is compelled to

say that after the 〃glorious〃 sad days of July; Alencon discovered

that the chevalier's nightly winnings amounted to about one hundred

and fifty francs every three months; and that the clever old nobleman

had had the pluck to send to himself his annuity in order not to

appear in the eyes of a community; which loves the main chance; to be

entirely without resources。 Many of his friends (he was by that time

dead; you will please remark) have contested mordicus this curious

fact; declaring it to be a fable; and upholding the Chevalier de

Valois as a respectable and worthy gentleman whom the liberals

calumniated。 Luckily for shrewd players; there are people to be found

among the spectators who will always sustain them。 Ashamed of having

to defend a piece of wrong…doing; they stoutly deny it。 Do not accuse

them of wilful infatuation; such men have a sense of their dignity;

governments set them the example of a virtue which consists in burying

their dead without chanting the Misere of their defeats。 If the

chevalier did allow himself this bit of shrewd practice;which; by

the bye; would have won him the regard of the Chevalier de Gramont; a

smile from the Baron de Foeneste; a shake of the hand from the Marquis

de Moncade;was he any the less that amiable guest; that witty

talker; that imperturbable card…player; that famous teller of

anecdotes; in whom all Alencon took delight? Besides; in what way was

this action; which is certainly within the rights of a man's own will;

in what way was it contrary to the ethics of a gentleman? Whe

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