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.