CHAPTER III--LUC-ESPRIT

  At the age of sixteen, one evening at the opera, he had had the honorto be stared at through opera-glasses by two beauties at the sametime--ripe and celebrated beauties then, and sung by Voltaire, theCamargo and the Sallé. Caught between two fires, he had beaten a heroicretreat towards a little dancer, a young girl named Nahenry, who wassixteen like himself, obscure as a cat, and with whom he was in love.He abounded in memories. He was accustomed to exclaim: "How pretty shewas--that Guimard-Guimardini-Guimardinette, the last time I saw herat Longchamps, her hair curled in sustained sentiments, with hercome-and-see of turquoises, her gown of the color of persons newlyarrived, and her little agitation muff!" He had worn in his youngmanhood a waistcoat of Nain-Londrin, which he was fond of talking abouteffusively. "I was dressed like a Turk of the Levant Levantin," said he.Madame de Boufflers, having seen him by chance when he was twenty, haddescribed him as "a charming fool." He was horrified by all the nameswhich he saw in politics and in power, regarding them as vulgar andbourgeois. He read the journals, the _newspapers, the gazettes_ as hesaid, stifling outbursts of laughter the while. "Oh!" he said, "whatpeople these are! Corbière! Humann! Casimir Périer! There's a ministerfor you! I can imagine this in a journal: 'M. Gillenorman, minister!'that would be a farce. Well! They are so stupid that it would pass"; hemerrily called everything by its name, whether decent or indecent, anddid not restrain himself in the least before ladies. He uttered coarsespeeches, obscenities, and filth with a certain tranquillity and lackof astonishment which was elegant. It was in keeping with theunceremoniousness of his century. It is to be noted that the age ofperiphrase in verse was the age of crudities in prose. His god-fatherhad predicted that he would turn out a man of genius, and had bestowedon him these two significant names: Luc-Esprit.