"Oh,it is not all rosy,"returned Finot."You made your right-about-face in such a way that you were bound to lose the support of the Liberal press,and the Liberals are far stronger in print than all the Ministerialist and Royalist papers put together.A man should never leave one camp for another until he has made a comfortable berth for himself,by way of consolation for the losses that he must expect;and in any case,a prudent politician will see his friends first,and give them his reasons for going over,and take their opinions.You can still act together;they sympathize with you,and you agree to give mutual help.Nathan and Merlin did that before they went over.Hawks don't pike out hawks'eyes.You were as innocent as a lamb;you will be forced to show your teeth to your new party to make anything out of them.You have been necessarily sacrificed to Nathan.I cannot conceal from you that your article on d'Arthez has roused a terrific hubbub.
Marat is a saint compared with you.You will be attacked,and your book will be a failure.How far have things gone with your romance?""These are the last proof sheets."
"All the anonymous articles against that young d'Arthez in the Ministerialist and Ultra papers are set down to you.The Reveil is poking fun at the set in the Rue des Quatre-Vents,and the hits are the more telling because they are funny.There is a whole serious political coterie at the back of Leon Giraud's paper;they will come into power too,sooner or later.""I have not written a line in the Reveil this week past.""Very well.Keep my short articles in mind.Write fifty of them straight off,and I will pay you for them in a lump;but they must be of the same color as the paper."And Finot,with seeming carelessness,gave Lucien an edifying anecdote of the Keeper of the Seals,a piece of current gossip,he said,for the subject of one of the papers.
Eager to retrieve his losses at play,Lucien shook off his dejection,summoned up his energy and youthful force,and wrote thirty articles of two columns each.These finished,he went to Dauriat's,partly because he felt sure of meeting Finot there,and he wished to give the articles to Finot in person;partly because he wished for an explanation of the non-appearance of the Marguerites.He found the bookseller's shop full of his enemies.All the talk immediately ceased as he entered.Put under the ban of journalism,his courage rose,and once more he said to himself,as he had said in the alley at the Luxembourg,"I will triumph."Dauriat was neither amiable or inclined to patronize;he was sarcastic in tone,and determined not to bate an inch of his rights.The Marguerites should appear when it suited his purpose;he should wait until Lucien was in a position to secure the success of the book;it was his,he had bought it outright.When Lucien asserted that Dauriat was bound to publish the Marguerites by the very nature of the contract,and the relative positions of the parties to the agreement,Dauriat flatly contradicted him,said that no publisher could be compelled by law to publish at a loss,and that he himself was the best judge of the expediency of producing the book.There was,besides,a remedy open to Lucien,as any court of law would admit--the poet was quite welcome to take his verses to a Royalist publisher upon the repayment of the thousand crowns.
Lucien went away.Dauriat's moderate tone had exasperated him even more than his previous arrogance at their first interview.So the Marguerites would not appear until Lucien had found a host of formidable supporters,or grown formidable himself!He walked home slowly,so oppressed and out of heart that he felt ready for suicide.
Coralie lay in bed,looking white and ill.
"She must have a part,or she will die,"said Berenice,as Lucien dressed for a great evening party at Mlle.des Touches'house in the Rue du Mont Blanc.Des Lupeaulx and Vignon and Blondet were to be there,as well as Mme.d'Espard and Mme.de Bargeton.
The party was given in honor of Conti,the great composer,owner likewise of one of the most famous voices off the stage,Cinti,Pasta,Garcia,Levasseur,and two or three celebrated amateurs in society not excepted.Lucien saw the Marquise,her cousin,and Mme.de Montcornet sitting together,and made one of the party.The unhappy young fellow to all appearances was light-hearted,happy,and content;he jested,he was the Lucien de Rubempre of his days of splendor,he would not seem to need help from any one.He dwelt on his services to the Royalist party,and cited the hue and cry raised after him by the Liberal press as a proof of his zeal.
"And you will be well rewarded,my friend,"said Mme.de Bargeton,with a gracious smile."Go to the Chancellerie the day after to-morrow with 'the Heron'and des Lupeaulx,and you will find your patent signed by His Majesty.The Keeper of the Seals will take it to-morrow to the Tuileries,but there is to be a meeting of the Council,and he will not come back till late.Still,if I hear the result to-morrow evening,I will let you know.Where are you living?""I will come to you,"said Lucien,ashamed to confess that he was living in the Rue de la Lune.
