Amid a crowd of great noblemen who remained silent, and of intriguers, mostly disreputable, but all of them clever fellows, who arrived one after another that evening, in M. de La Mole's drawing-room (people were speaking of him for a vacant Ministry), young Tanbeau was winning his spurs.
Au milieu de quelques grands seigneurs muets, et des intrigants, la plupart tarés, mais tous gens d’esprit, qui ce soir-là, abordaient successivement dans le salon de M. de La Mole (on parlait de lui pour un ministère), le petit Tanbeau faisait ses premières armes.