Balzac now acquired carriages and horses, he had a cabriolet and a
tilbury painted maroon; his coachman was enormous and was named
Leclercq, while the groom was a dwarf whom he called Anchises. He
engaged servants, a cook and a valet named Paradis. He patronised the
most fashionable tailor of the time, and dressed in accordance with the
decrees of the latest style. Mme. Ancelot states that he ordered no
less than thirty-one waistcoats, and that he had not given up the hope
of some day having three hundred and sixty-five, one for each day in
the year. He abandoned wool in favour of silk. Rings adorned his
fingers; his linen was of the finest quality; and he used perfumes, of
which he was passionately fond.
In the morning he went to the Bois, where the other young men of
fashion congregated; he sauntered up and down and later paid visits; in
the evening, when he had no invitations to social functions, he dined
at the Rocher de Cancale or at Bignon's, or showed himself at the Opera
in the box occupied by an ultra-fashionable set known as the "Tigers.
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