Nucingen.
"She has white eyelashes."

"Yes, but she has such a pretty slender figure!"
"Her hands are large."

"Such beautiful eyes!"
"Her face is long."

"Yes, but length gives distinction."
"It is lucky for her that she has some distinction in her face.

Just see how she fidgets with her opera-glass! The Goriot blood
shows itself in every movement," said the Vicomtesse, much to

Eugene's astonishment.
Indeed, Mme. de Beauseant seemed to be engaged in making a survey

of the house, and to be unconscious of Mme. Nucingen's existence;
but no movement made by the latter was lost upon the Vicomtesse.

The house was full of the loveliest women in Paris, so that
Delphine de Nucingen was not a little flattered to receive the

undivided attention of Mme. de Beauseant's young, handsome, and
well-dressed cousin, who seemed to have no eyes for any one else.

"If you look at her so persistently, you will make people talk,
M. de Rastignac. You will never succeed if you fling yourself at

any one's head like that."
"My dear cousin," said Eugene, "you have protected me indeed so

far, and now if you would complete your work, I only ask of you a
favor which will cost you but little, and be of very great

service to me. I have lost my heart."
"Already!"

"Yes."
"And to that woman!"

"How could I aspire to find any one else to listen to me?" he
asked, with a keen glance at his cousin. "Her Grace the Duchesse

de Carigliano is a friend of the Duchesse de Berri," he went on,
after a pause; "you are sure to see her, will you be so kind as

to present me to her, and to take me to her ball on Monday? I
shall meet Mme. de Nucingen there, and enter into my first

skirmish."
"Willingly," she said. "If you have a liking for her already,

your affairs of the heart are like to prosper. That is de Marsay
over there in the Princesse Galathionne's box. Mme. de Nucingen

is racked with jealousy" target="_blank" title="n.妒忌；猜忌">jealousy. There is no better time for approaching
a woman, especially if she happens to be a banker's wife. All

those ladies of the Chaussee-d'Antin love revenge."
"Then, what would you do yourself in such a case?"

"I should suffer in silence."
At this point the Marquis d'Ajuda appeared in Mme. de Beauseant's

box.
"I have made a muddle of my affairs to come to you," he said,

"and I am telling you about it, so that it may not be a
sacrifice."

Eugene saw the glow of joy on the Vicomtesse's face, and knew
that this was love, and learned the difference between love and

the affectations of Parisian coquetry. He admired his cousin,
grew mute, and yielded his place to M. d'Ajuda with a sigh.

"How noble, how sublime a woman is when she loves like that!" he
said to himself. "And HE could forsake her for a doll! Oh! how

could any one forsake her?"
There was a boy's passionate" target="_blank" title="a.易动情的；易怒的">passionateindignation in his heart. He could

have flung himself at Mme. de Beauseant's feet; he longed for the
power of the devil if he could snatch her away and hide her in

his heart, as an eagle snatches up some white yeanling from the
plains and bears it to its eyrie. It was humiliating to him to

think that in all this gallery of fair pictures he had not one
picture of his own. "To have a mistress and an almost royal

position is a sign of power," he said to himself. And he looked
at Mme. de Nucingen as a man measures another who has insulted

him.
The Vicomtesse turned to him, and the expression of her eyes

thanked him a thousand times for his discretion. The first act
came to an end just then.

"Do you know Mme. de Nucingen well enough to present M. de
Rastignac to her?" she asked of the Marquis d'Ajuda.

"She will be delighted," said the Marquis. The handsome
Portuguese rose as he spoke and took the student's arm, and in

another moment Eugene found himself in Mme. de Nucingen's box.
"Madame," said the Marquis, "I have the honor of presenting to

you the Chevalier Eugene de Rastignac; he is a cousin of Mme. de
Beauseant's. You have made so deep an impression upon him, that I

thought I would fill up the measure of his happiness by bringing
him nearer to his divinity."

Words spoken half jestingly to cover their somewhat disrespectful
import; but such an implication, if carefully disguised, never

gives offence to a woman. Mme. de Nucingen smiled, and offered
Eugene the place which her husband had just left.

"I do not venture to suggest that you should stay with me,
monsieur," she said. "Those who are so fortunate as to be in Mme.

de Beauseant's company do not desire to leave it."
"Madame," Eugene said, lowering his voice, "I think that to

please my cousin I should remain with you. Before my lord Marquis
came we were speaking of you and of your exceedingly

distinguished appearance," he added aloud.
M. d'Ajuda turned and left them.

"Are you really going to stay with me, monsieur?" asked the
Baroness. "Then we shall make each other's acquaintance. Mme. de

Restaud told me about you, and has made me anxious to meet you."
"She must be very insincere, then, for she has shut her door on

me."
"What?"

"Madame, I will tell you honestly the reason why; but I must
crave your indulgence before confiding such a secret to you. I am

your father's neighbor; I had no idea that Mme. de Restaud was
his daughter. I was rash enough to mention his name; I meant no

harm, but I annoyed your sister and her husband very much. You
cannot think how severely the Duchesse de Langeais and my cousin

blamed this apostasy on a daughter's part, as a piece of bad
taste. I told them all about it, and they both burst out

laughing. Then Mme. de Beauseant made some comparison between you
and your sister, speaking in high terms of you, and saying how

very fond you were of my neighbor, M. Goriot. And, indeed, how
could you help loving him? He adores you so passionate" target="_blank" title="a.易动情的；易怒的">passionately that I

am jealous already. We talked about you this morning for two
hours. So this evening I was quite full of all that your father

had told me, and while I was dining with my cousin I said that
you could not be as beautiful as affectionate. Mme. de Beauseant

meant to gratify such warm admiration, I think, when she brought
me here, telling me, in her gracious way, that I should see you."

"Then, even now, I owe you a debt of gratitude, monsieur," said
the banker's wife. "We shall be quite old friends in a little

while."
"Although a friendship with you could not be like an ordinary

friendship," said Rastignac; "I should never wish to be your
friend."

Such stereotyped phrases as these, in the mouths of beginners,
possess an unfailing charm for women, and are insipid only when

read coldly; for a young man's tone, glance and attitude give a
surpassing eloquence to the banal phrases. Mme. de Nucingen