"I have there my tub of gold." This bath of priceless metal he had procured, after much financial wrestling, from an auction, and he considered the purchase the culminating achievement of his wealth.

No one knew exactly its origin; perhaps it had been the property of luxurious princes; perhaps it owed its existence to the caprice of a demi-mondaine fond of display.

He and his had woven a legend around this golden cavity adorned with lions' claws, dolphins and busts of naiads.

Undoubtedly it was once a king's! Chichi gravely affirmed that it had been Marie Antoinette's, and the entire family thought that the home on the avenue Victor Hugo was altogether too modest and plebeian to enshrine such a jewel.

They therefore agreed to put it in the castle, where it was greatly venerated, although it was useless and solemn as a museum piece.