He believed in nothing but himself and the impregnable position of a peer of France. Young, brilliant, unscrupulous and completely sure of himself, he had already made his name conspicuous 'among his own class by his excesses, his gifts, his extravagance, and by something more unusual than any of these, a certain fierceness and wildness which was rather more than the mere wilfulness of a high-spirited young man brought up without restraint, and involved elements both strange and dangerous.

He had the reputation of being utterly heartless; he had his friends and his companions, but he was more feared than liked, for his haughtiness never stooped to conciliate or please. Among the many assets that made him fortune's favourite were his extreme good looksauthor's noted early Novel-Historical, and superb health, neither of which had as yet been affected by his way of life.