Finding himself in years, he bethought himself of marriage, and turned his attention to a relative of Madam de Maintenon, who refused him upon the pretext of the disparity in their ages.  He had his revenge in writing against marriage, and against all aristocracies in his romances.  His Mysteries of Paris appeared in the Debats, and the Wandering Jew in the Constitutionel.  He endeavored through his fiction to teach Socialistic doctrines, and so far carried them into practice that he appeared in the streets in a blouse.  There can be no question that his later novels were written with a far higher aim than the early ones, which were reeking with a refined, yet none the less loathsome sensuality.  An enormous price was paid for the Wandering Jew by the editor of the Constitutionel, who was none other than his old companion of the wine-closet—­Dr. Veron.  The latter made a bargain with the author to write ten small volumes a year for fourteen consecutive years, for which he agreed to pay one hundred thousand francs a year, or nearly a million and a half for the whole engagement.  He presented Dr. Veron with the manuscript of the Seven Capital Sins, when the worthy editor found himself drawn to the life, under the title of the Gourmand.  He protested against it, but Sue pleading the bargain, would not abate one sentence.  Dr. Veron would not, of course, publish it, and finally the contract was annulled.  The Gourmand—­Dr. Veron—­was published in the Seicle, and the others of the Capital Sins, were published in the Presse.

Sue had at this time a splendid chateau in the environs of Orleans—­the chateau des Bordes.  Here he lived in great luxury and splendor.  In the days of the republic he was elected a member of the legislative assembly, which office at first he was backward in assuming.  In 1852 Sue sold his Orleans property, and removed to a beautiful place in Savoy, where his life was described as follows:  “He rises in the morning and receives from a servant a long bamboo cane, and walks in the region of his house until breakfast.  A pretty house-keeper waits upon him while he partakes of a sumptuous meal, and when it is finished, he enters his study to write.  The servant presents him with a spotless pair of kid gloves in which he always writes.  At each chapter a new and perfumed pair is presented him.  He writes five or six hours steadily, without correcting or reading.  His income is from sixty to eighty thousand francs a year from these writings.  After laborious writing, Sue makes his toilet in the best style, and prepares for dinner, which is everything that an epicure might desire.  After dinner he mounts a fine horse and rides among the hills which surround his home, until his digestion is completed.  He returns, smokes tobacco from an amber pipe, and enjoys himself at his leisure.”