of genius; hence they felt sure that he had only to undertake a thing,
and he was sure to succeed. Besides, Daniel hoped that such grave
matters of business would keep the count from playing the fashionable
young man.

But it seemed as if nothing could turn him from this folly; he became
daily younger and faster. He wore the most eccentric hats on one ear.
He ordered his coats to be made in the very last fashion; and never
went out without a camellia or a rosebud in his buttonhole. He no longer
contented himself with dyeing his hair, but actually began to rouge,
and used such strong perfumes, that one might have followed his track
through the streets by the odors he diffused around him.

At times he would sit for hours in an arm-chair, his eyes fixed on the
ceiling, his brow knit, and his thoughts apparently bent upon some grave
question. If he was spoken to, he started like a criminal caught in the
act. He who formerly prided himself on his magnificent appetite (he
saw in it a resemblance to Louis XIV.) now hardly ate any thing. On the
other hand, he was forever complaining of oppression in the chest, and
of palpitation of the heart.

His daughter repeatedly found him with tears in his eyes,--big tears,
which passed through his dyed beard, and fell like drops of ink on his
white shirt-front. Then, again, these attacks of melancholy would be
followed by sudden outbursts of joy. He would rub his hands till they
pained him; he would sing and almost dance with delight.

Now and then a commissionaire (it was always the same man) came and
brought him a letter. The count tore it from his hands, threw him a
gold-piece, and went to shut himself up in his study.