The aunt and sister of the Duc
d'Herouville confirmed in the aristocratic salons of Bayeux Monsieur
Charles Mignon's right to the title and arms of count, derived from
Cardinal Mignon, for whom the Cardinal's hat and tassels were added as
a crest. They had seen Mademoiselle de La Bastie when they were
staying at the Vilquins, and their solicitude for the impoverished
head of their house now became active.
"If Mademoiselle de La Bastie is really as rich as she is beautiful,"
said the aunt of the young duke, "she is the best match in the
province. _She_ at least is noble."
The last words were aimed at the Vilquins, with whom they had not been
able to come to terms, after incurring the humiliation of staying in
that bourgeois household.
Such were the little events which, contrary to the rules of Aristotle
and of Horace, precede the introduction of another person into our
story; but the portrait and the biography of this personage, this late
arrival, shall not be long, taking into consideration his own
diminutiveness. The grand equerry shall not take more space here than
he will take in history.
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