to your nephew's advancement in his regiment, that perhaps – But no matter – no matter!" he added, with a deprecatory wave of the hand.
"You completely misunderstood me, my dear Stainville," broke in M. Achille, eagerly. "I said that the matter was difficult; I did not say that it was impossible. Mme. Véronique is beset with petitions, but you may rely on my friendship. I will obtain the necessary introduction for you if you, on the other hand, will bear my nephew's interests in mind."
"Say no more about it, my good Eglinton," said Bénédict, with easy condescension; "your nephew will get his promotion on the word of a Stainville."
Peace and amity being once more restored between the two friends, M. Joseph thought that he had now remained silent far longer than was compatible with his own importance.
"It is very difficult, of course, in our position," he said pompously, "to do justice to the many demands which are made on our influence and patronage. Take my own case, for instance – my Duke leaves all appointments in my hands. In the morning, whilst I shave him, I have but to mention a name to him in connection with any post under Government that happens to be vacant, and immediately the favoured one, thus named by me, receives attention, nearly always followed by a nomination."
"Hem! hem!" came very discreetly from the lips of M. Bénédict.
"You said?" queried Joseph, with a slight lifting of the right eyebrow.
"Oh! nothing – nothing! I pray you continue; the matter is vastly entertaining."
"At the present moment," continued M. Joseph, keeping a suspicious eye on the other man, "I am deeply worried by this proposal which comes from the Parliaments of Rennes and Paris."
"A new Ministry of Finance to be formed," quoth M. Achille. "We know all about it."
"With direct control of the nation's money and responsible to the Parliaments alone," assented Joseph. "The Parliaments! Bah!" he added in tones of supreme contempt, "bourgeois the lot of them!"
"Their demands are preposterous, so says my milor. 'Tis a marvel His Majesty has given his consent."
"I have advised my Duke not to listen to the rabble," said Joseph, as he readjusted the set of his cravat. "A Ministry responsible to the Parliaments! Ridiculous, I say!"
"I understand, though," here interposed M. Achille, "that the Parliaments, out of deference for His Majesty are willing that the King himself shall appoint this new Comptroller of Finance."
"The King, my good Eglinton," calmly retorted M. Joseph – "the King will leave this matter to us. You may take it from me that we shall appoint this new Minister, and an extremely pleasant post it will be. Comptroller of Finance! All the taxes to pass through the Minister's hands! Par Dieu! does it not open out a wide field for an ambitious man?"
"Hem! hem!" coughed M. Bénédict again.
"You seem to be suffering from a cold, sir," said M. Joseph irritably.
"Not in the least," rejoined Bénédict hastily – "a slight tickling in the throat. You were saying, M. Joseph, that you hoped this new appointment would fall within your sphere of influence."
"Nay! If you doubt me, my good Stainville – " And M. Joseph rose with slow and solemn majesty from the divan, where he had been reclining, and walking across the room with a measured step, he reached an escritoire whereon ink and pens, letters tied up in bundles, loose papers, and all the usual paraphernalia commonly found on the desk of a busy man. M. Joseph sat down at the table and rang a handbell.
The next moment a young footman entered, silent and deferential.
"Is any one in the ante-room, Paul?" asked Joseph.
"Yes, M. Joseph."
"How many?"
"About thirty persons."
"Go tell them, then, that M. Joseph is not receiving to-night. He is entertaining a circle of friends. Bring me all written petitions. I shall be visible in my dressing room to those who have a personal introduction at eleven o'clock to-morrow. You may go!"
Silently as he had entered, the young man bowed and withdrew.
M. Joseph wheeled round in his chair and turned to his friends with a look of becoming triumph.
"Thirty persons!" he remarked simply.
"All after this appointment?" queried Achille.
"Their representatives, you see," explained M. Joseph airily. "Oh! my ante-chamber is always full – You understand? I shave my Duke every morning; and every one, it seems to me, is wanting to control the finances of France."
"Might one inquire who is your special protégé?" asked the other.
"Time will show," came with cryptic vagueness from the lips of M. Joseph.
"Hem! hem!"
In addition to a slight tickling of the throat, M. Bénédict seemed to be suffering from an affection of the left eye which caused him to wink with somewhat persistent emphasis:
"This is the third time you have made that remark, Stainville," said Joseph severely.
"I did not remark, my dear D'Aumont," rejoined Bénédict pleasantly – "that is, I merely said 'Hem! hem!'"
"Even so, I heard you," said Joseph, with some acerbity; "and I would wish to know precisely what you meant when you said 'Hem! hem!' like that."
"I was thinking of Mlle. Lucienne," said Bénédict, with a sentimental sigh.
"Indeed!"
"Yes! I am one of her sweethearts – the fourth in point of favour. Mlle. Lucienne has your young lady's ear, my good D'Aumont, and we all know that your Duke governs the whole of France exactly as his daughter wishes him to do."
"And you hope through Mlle. Lucienne's influence to obtain the new post of Comptroller for your own Count?" asked M. Joseph, with assumed carelessness, as he drummed a devil's tattoo on the table before him.
A slight expression of fatuity crept into the countenance of M. Bénédict. He did not wish to irritate the great man; at the same time he felt confident in his own powers of blandishments where Mlle. Lucienne was concerned, even though he only stood fourth in point of favour in that influential lady's heart.
"Mlle. Lucienne has promised us her support," he said, with a complacent smile.
"I fear me that will be of little avail," here interposed M. Achille. "We have on our side, the influence of Mme. Auguste Baillon, who is housekeeper to M. le Docteur Dubois, consulting physician to Mlle. d'Aumont. M. le Docteur is very fond of haricots cooked in lard – a dish in the preparation of which Mme. Baillon excels – whilst, on the other hand, that lady's son is perruquier to my Eglinton. I think there is no doubt that ours is the stronger influence, and that if this Ministry of Finance comes into being, we shall be the Chief Comptroller."
"Oh, it will come into being, without any doubt," said Bénédict. "I have it from my cousin François, who is one of the sweethearts of Mlle. Duprez, confidential maid to Mme. Aremberg, the jeweller's wife, that the merchants of Paris and Lyons are not at all pleased with the amount of money which the King and Mme. de Pompadour are spending."
"Exactly!
