That advice was more easily given than followed; for the count’s ways became daily more extraordinary.  He had gradually drifted away from his old friends and his wife’s friends, and seemed to prefer to their high-bred society the company of very curious people of all kinds.  A number of young men came in the forenoon on horseback, and in the most unceremonious costumes.  They came in smoking their cigars, and asked at once for liquors and absinthe.  In the afternoon, another set of men made their appearance,—­vulgar and arrogant people, with huge whiskers and enormous watch-chains, who gesticulated vehemently, and were on most excellent terms with the servants.  They were closeted with the count; and their discussions were so loud, they could be heard all over the house.

What were the grave discussions that made so much noise?  The count undertook to enlighten his daughter.  He told her, that, having been ill-treated in politics, he intended to devote himself henceforth to grand enterprises, and hoped confidently to realize an enormous fortune, while, at the same time, rendering great service to certain branches of industry.

A fortune?  Why should he want money?  What with his own estate, and what with his wife’s fortune, he had already an income of a hundred thousand dollars.  Was that not quite enough for a man of sixty-five and for a young girl who did not spend a thousand a year on her toilet?

Henrietta asked him timidly, for she was afraid of hurting her father’s feelings, why he wanted more money.

He laughed heartily, tapped her cheek playfully, and said,—­

“Ah, you would like to rule your papa, would you?”

Then he added more seriously,—­

“Am I so old, my little lady, that I ought to go into retirement?  Have you, also, gone over to my enemies?”

“Oh, dear papa!”

“Well, my child, then you ought to know that a man such as I am cannot condemn himself to inactivity, unless he wants to die.  I do not want any more money; what I want is an outlet for my energy and my talents.”

This was so sensible a reply, that both Henrietta and Daniel felt quite re-assured.

Both had been taught by the countess to look upon her husband as a man of genius; hence they felt sure that he had only to undertake a thing, and he was sure to succeed.  Besides, Daniel hoped that such grave matters of business would keep the count from playing the fashionable young man.

But it seemed as if nothing could turn him from this folly; he became daily younger and faster.  He wore the most eccentric hats on one ear.  He ordered his coats to be made in the very last fashion; and never went out without a camellia or a rosebud in his buttonhole.  He no longer contented himself with dyeing his hair, but actually began to rouge, and used such strong perfumes, that one might have followed his track through the streets by the odors he diffused around him.