The devil take it; if we
begin an outrageous sort of life, we may come on some bit of luck,
perhaps!'
"Rastignac's eloquence carried me away. The attractions of the plan
shone too temptingly, hopes were kindled, the poetical aspects of the
matter appealed to a poet.
"'How about money?' I said.
"'Haven't you four hundred and fifty francs?'
"'Yes, but debts to my landlady and the tailor----'
"'You would pay your tailor? You will never be anything whatever, not
so much as a minister.'
"'But what can one do with twenty louis?'
"'Go to the gaming-table.'
"I shuddered.
"'You are going to launch out into what I call systematic
dissipation,' said he, noticing my scruples, 'and yet you are afraid
of a green table-cloth.'
"'Listen to me,' I answered. 'I promised my father never to set foot
in a gaming-house. Not only is that a sacred promise, but I still feel
an unconquerable disgust whenever I pass a gambling-hell; take the
money and go without me. While our fortune is at stake, I will set my
own affairs straight, and then I will go to your lodgings and wait for
you.'
"That was the way I went to perdition. A young man has only to come
across a woman who will not love him, or a woman who loves him too
well, and his whole life becomes a chaos.
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