“Ah!  By Jove, fellows! what luck!” cried that officer, joyously.

“What is it?” demanded the others in chorus.

“Listen to this!” And he read aloud:  “’General Order:  An expedition corps, composed of two divisions of infantry, under the command of General Forey, is in process of forming, in order to be sent to Mexico on urgent business.  The brigade of the advance guard will be composed of the First Regiment of Zouaves and the Eighteenth Battalion of infantry.  As soon as these companies shall be prepared for war, this battalion will proceed by the shortest route to Toulon; thence they will embark aboard the Imperial on the twenty-sixth day of June next.’”

Arousing cheer drowned the end of the reading of this bulletin, the tenor of which gave to Henri’s aspiraitions an immediate and more advantageous prospect immediate, because, as his company was the first to march, he was assured of not remaining longer at the garrison; more advantageous, because the dangers of a foreign expedition opened a much larger field for his chances of promotion.

Consequently, less than a month remained to him in which to settle his indebtedness.  After the reading of the bulletin, he asked one of his brother officers to take his place until evening, caught the first train to town, and, alighting at the Bastille, went directly to the Hotel de Montgeron, where he had temporary quarters whenever he chose to use them.

“Is the Duke at home?” he inquired of the Swiss.

Receiving an affirmative reply, he crossed the courtyard, and was soon announced to his brother-in-law, the noble proprietor of La Sarthe, deputy of the Legitimist opposition to the Corps Legislatif of the Empire.

The Duc de Montgeron listened in silence to his relative’s explanation of his situation.  When the recital was finished, without uttering a syllable he opened a drawer, drew out a legal paper, and handed it to Henri, saying: 

“This is my marriage contract.  Read it, and you will see that I have had, from the head of my family, three hundred and fifteen thousand livres income.  I do not say this to you in order to contrast my riches with your ruin, but only to prove to you that I was perfectly well able to marry your sister even had she possessed no dot.  That dot yields seven hundred and fifteen thousand francs’ income, at three per cent.  We were married under the law of community of goods, which greatly simplifies matters when husband and wife have, as have Jeanne and myself, but one heart and one way of looking at things.  To consult her would be, perhaps, to injure her.  To-morrow I will sell the necessary stock, and ere the end of the week Monsieur Durand, your notary and ours, shall hold at your disposal the amount of the sum you lost last night.”

The blood rose to the cheeks of the young officer.