ONE:��That is a curious dress of yours, Monsieur,�� he replied, looking round the ball room: TWO:On one occasion his friends made him believe that there existed the post of ��fire-screen to the King,�� and that it might possibly be given to him. In order to qualify himself, they persuaded him to stand frequently before the fire until his legs were quite scorched, assuring him when he wished to move away that if he did not persevere he would never be able to fill that post.

ONE:It was decided that the three sisters should meet at Viane, where Pauline and her husband went, with post-horses provided by Mme. de Tess��. It was eight years since Pauline and Rosalie had met, and Pauline said it was a foretaste of Heaven.A fashionable promenade was the boulevard du Temple, where every day, especially Thursdays, hundreds of carriages were to be seen driving up and down or standing under the shade of trees now replaced by houses, shops, and caf��s. Young men rode in and out amongst them, notorious members of the demi-monde tried to surpass every one in the splendour of their dress and carriages. A certain Mlle. Renard had her carriage drawn by four horses, their harness studded with imitation jewels. It was not an age of imitation. In those days as a rule lace was real lace, jewels were real jewels, and if tawdry imitations and finery were worn it was by women of this class. Respectable people would never have dreamed of bedizening themselves with the sort of cheap rubbish with which the modern women of the lower classes delight to disfigure their houses and their dress. TWO: