Adolphe had also known the fate reserved for him, and was by
no means resigned to it; for he had never had the least
intention of becoming a soldier, and having escaped
conscription, absolutely refused to enter the army. He was a
clever, unprincipled lad, who had done well at his studies,
but lost no time in getting into the most dissipated society
he could find from the moment he left college. He inherited
his father's good looks, but his mother's predilections
apparently; for he set out in life with the determination to
be Parisian amongst Parisians--of a certain class, be it
understood; and having some talent for drawing, as indeed he
had for most things, he used it as a pretext, announced that
he intended to be an artist, and furnishing a room in the
Quartier Latin, with an easel and a pipe, he began the wild
Bohemian life which he found most in accordance with his
tastes.
He was selfish and reckless enough, but not altogether
heartless, for he had a real affection for his mother, which
might have been worked upon with advantage. But Madame
Linders, who had indulged him till he had learnt to look upon
her devotion as a thing of course, now turned upon him with
the fretful, inconsequent reproaches of a weak mind; and
finding that he was constantly met with tearful words and
aggrieved looks, her son avoided her as much as possible.
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