Not being able to shine by means of cultivation or polish, he sought to gain a position in his club by a certain roughness of demeanor and a cynical mode of speech.

He flung away his money in every direction, kept racers, and was uniformly fortunate in his betting transactions.

He frequented the world of gallantry, and was constantly to be seen in the company of women whose reputations were exceedingly equivocal.

His days were spent on horseback, or in the fencing room, and his nights in drinking, gambling, and all kinds of debauchery.

His wife scarcely ever saw him, for when he returned home it was usually with the first beams of day, either half intoxicated or savage from having lost large sums at the gambling table.