Chapter II

My introduction to the celebrities of the day -- The Cafe de
Paris -- The old Prince Demidoff -- The old man's mania -- His
sons -- The furniture and attendance at the Cafe de Paris -- Its
high prices -- A mot of Alfred de Musset -- The cuisine -- A
rebuke of the proprietor to Balzac -- A version by one of his
predecessors of the cause of Vatel's suicide -- Some of the
_habitues_ -- Their intercourse with the attendants -- Their
courteous behaviour towards one another -- Le veau a la casserole
-- What Alfred de Musset, Balzac, and Alexandre Dumas thought of
it -- A silhouette of Alfred de Musset -- His brother Paul on his
election as a member of the Academie -- A silhouette of Balzac,
between sunset and sunrise -- A curious action against the
publishers of an almanack -- A full-length portrait of Balzac --
His pecuniary embarrassments -- His visions of wealth and
speculations -- His constant neglect of his duties as a National
Guard -- His troubles in consequence thereof -- L'Hotel des
Haricots -- Some of his fellow-prisoners -- Adam, the composer of
"Le Postillon de Lonjumeau" -- Eugene Sue; his portrait -- His
dandyism -- The origin of the Paris Jockey Club -- Eugene Sue
becomes a member -- The success of "Les Mysteres de Paris" -- The
origin of "Le Juif-Errant" -- Sue makes himself objectionable to
the members of the Jockey Club -- His name struck off the list --
His decline and disappearance 24