curves, which oscillate between the Semitic curve
and the Bourbon curve. His lips, very short and
turned-up, reveal black holes between decaying
teeth. His complexion is lightened in the scale of
the yellows, relieved at the cheek-bones with some
hatchings in bright lake. Without being obese,
like the majestic coachman of the olden time, he is
now endowed with a comfortable and regular embonpoint which covers with fat the vulgar protuberances
of his frame. And, slightly throwing out his
chest, he walks with an elastic step, his elbows
bent at the regulation angle. Scorning to follow
the fashion, desirous rather of setting it, he
dresses richly and fantastically. He has blue
frock-coats, with watered-silk facings, excessively
tight-fitting and too new; pantaloons of English cut
that are too light; cravats that are too white;
jewels that are too big; handkerchiefs that are too
fragrant; shoes that are too highly polished; hats
that are too shining. How long the young swells
have envied Edgar the unusual and fulgurating
brilliancy of his headgear!
At eight o’clock in the morning, wearing a little round hat and a putty-colored overcoat as short as a jacket, with an enormous yellow rose in his button-hole, Edgar descends from his automobile, in front of the baron’s mansion. The grooming is just finished. After having cast an ill-humored look around the yard, he enters the stables and
