A Daughter of Eve Author:Honoré de Balzac General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1895 Original Publisher: Roberts Brothers Subjects: Fiction / Classics Fiction / Literary History / Europe / France Literary Criticism / European / French Religion / General Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and the... more »re may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: A COMMISSION IN LUNACY. Dedicated To Monsieur Le Contre-amiral Bazochb, Governor Of The Ile Bourbon. By The Grateful Authob, De Balzac. TWO OLD FRIENDS. In 1828, about one o'clock in the morning, two men left a handsome house in the faubourg Saint-Honore, not far from the Elysee-Bourbon. One was the celebrated doctor, Horace Bianchon; the other, one of the most elegant men in Paris, the Baron de Rastignac; friends of long standing. Each had sent away his carriage, and no cabs were to be seen in the faubourg; but the night was fine and the pavements were dry. "Let us go on foot to the boulevard," said Eugene de Rastignac. "You'll find a cab at the club; they are always there till morning; and you can walk nearly home with me." "Very good." "Well, my dear fellow, what think you?" "Of that woman?" asked the doctor, coldly. "I recognize my Bianchon," cried Rastignac. "How so?" "You speak of the Marquise d'Espard as if she were a patient to put in your hospital." "Do you want to know what I think, Eugene? I think that if you leave Madame de Nucingen for that marquise you 'll exchange your one-eyed horse for a blind one." "Madame de Nucingen is thirty-six years old." "And the other woman thirty-three," replied the doctor, quickly. "Her worst enemies call her twenty-six." "My dear fellow, when you have an interest in knowing a woman's age look at her temples and the end of her nose. No matter what else women may do with t...« less