Unfortunately my practice, although every day multiplying even beyond my most sanguine hopes, was entirely confined to the _bourgeoisie_; and though they paid well, my ambition pointed to higher game, and I longed to feel the pulses of _la haute noblesse_, and to ascertain if the fine porcelain of which I had heard they were formed was indeed as much superior to the delf of which the _bourgeoisie_ are said to be manufactured, as I was led to believe.
"Luckily for me, the _femme de chambre_ of a grand lady fancied herself ill, mentioned the fancy to her friend, who was one of my patients, and who instantly advised her to consult the _celebrated_ Dr.P----, adding a lively account of the extent of my practice and the great request I was in.
"The _femme de chambre_ consulted me, described symptoms enough to baffle all the schools of medicine in France, so various and contradictory were they, and I, discovering that she really had nothing the matter with her, advised what I knew would be very palatable to her,--namely, a very nutritious _regime_, as much air and amusement as was possible in her position, and gave her a prescription for some gentle medicine, to prevent any evil effect from the luxurious fare I had recommended.
"I was half tempted to refuse the fee she slipped into my hand, but I recollected that people never value what they get for nothing, and so I pocketed it.
"In a few days, I was sent for to the Hotel--to attend the Duchesse de -- -- the mistress of the said _femme de chambre_.
This was an event beyond my hopes, and I determined to profit by it.

I found the Duchesse suffering under a malady--if malady it could be called--to which I have since discovered grand ladies are peculiarly subject; namely, a superfluity of _embonpoint_, occasioned by luxurious habits and the want of exercise.
"'I am very much indisposed, Doctor,' lisped the lady, 'and your prescription has done my _femme de chambre_ so much good, that I determined to send for you.

I am so very ill, that I am fast losing my shape; my face, too, is no longer the same; and my feet and hands are not to be recognised.' "I drew out my watch, felt her pulse, looked grave, inquired--though it was useless, her _embonpoint_ having revealed it--what were her general habits and _regime_; and then, having written a prescription, urged the necessity of her abandoning _cafe au lait_, rich _consommes_, and high-seasoned _entrees_; recommended early rising and constant exercise; and promised that a strict attention to my advice would soon restore her health, and with it her shape.
"I was told to call every day until further orders; and I, pleading the excess of occupation which would render my daily visits to her so difficult, consented to make them, only on condition that my fair patient was to walk with me every day six times around the garden of her hotel; for I guessed she was too indolent to persevere in taking exercise if left to herself.
"The system I pursued with her succeeded perfectly.

I was then a very active man, and I walked so fast that I left the Duchesse every day when our promenade ended bathed in a copious perspiration; which, aided by the medicine and sparing _regime_, soon restored her figure to its former symmetry.
"At her hotel, I daily met ladies of the highest rank and distinction, many of whom were suffering from a similar cause, the same annoyance for which the Duchesse consulted me; and I then discovered that there is no malady, however grave, so distressing to your sex, ladies, or for the cure of which they are so willing to submit to the most disagreeable _regime_, as for aught that impairs their personal beauty.
"When her female friends saw the improvement effected in the appearance of the Duchesse by my treatment, I was consulted by them all, and my fame and fortune rapidly increased.

I was proclaimed to be the most wonderful physician, and to have effected the most extraordinary cures; when, in truth, I but consulted Nature, and aided her efforts.
"Shortly after this period, a grand lady, an acquaintance of one of my many patients among the _noblesse_, consulted me; and here the case was wholly different to that of the Duchesse, for this lady had grown so thin, that wrinkles--those most frightful of all symptoms of decaying beauty--had made their appearance.