"
"I will abandon the project, then," sighed Wilkie, despondently;
"but pray advise me. What do you think of my situation?"
M. de Coralth seemed to consider a moment, and then gravely
replied: "I think that, UNASSISTED, you have no chance whatever.
You have no standing, no influential connections, no position--you
are not even a Frenchman."
"Alas! that is precisely what I have said to myself."
"Still, I am convinced that with some assistance you might
overcome your mother's resistance, and even your father's
pretentions."
"Yes, but where could I find protectors?"
The viscount's gravity seemed to increase. "Listen to me," said
he; "I will do for you what I would not do for any one else. I
will endeavor to interest in your cause one of my friends, who is
all powerful by reason of his name, his fortune, and his
connections--the Marquis de Valorsay, in fact."
"The one who is so well known upon the turf?"
"The same."
"And you will introduce me to him?"
"Yes. Be ready to-morrow at eleven o'clock, and I will call for
you and take you to his house. If he interests himself in your
cause, it is as good as gained." And as his companion overwhelmed
him with thanks, he rose, and said: "I must go now. No more
foolishness, and be ready to-morrow at the appointed time."
Thanks to the surprising mutability of temper which was the most
striking characteristic of his nature, M.
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