There he reappeared, not in the threadbare uniform that had attracted the giggling notice of that giddy throng, but as the lion of the society which his talents had saved.

His previous attempts to gain the hand of a lady had been unsuccessful.

He had been refused, first by Mlle.

Clary, sister of his brother Joseph's wife, and quite recently by Madame Permon.

Indeed, the scarecrow young officer had not been a brilliant match.