Part 3 Book 2 Chapter 7 Rule: Receive No One except in the Evening

Such was M. Luc-Esprit Gillenormand, who had not lost his hair,-- which was gray rather than white,--and which was always dressed in "dog's ears." To sum up, he was venerable in spite of all this.

He had something of the eighteenth century about him; frivolous and great.

In 1814 and during the early years of the Restoration, M. Gillenormand, who was still young,--he was only seventy-four,--lived in the Faubourg Saint Germain, Rue Servandoni, near Saint-Sulpice. He had only retired to the Marais when he quitted society, long after attaining the age of eighty.

And, on abandoning society, he had immured himself in his habits. The principal one, and that which was invariable, was to keep his door absolutely closed during the day, and never to receive any one whatever except in the evening. He dined at five o'clock, and after that his door was open. That had been the fashion of his century, and he would not swerve from it. "The day is vulgar," said he, "and deserves only a closed shutter. Fashionable people only light up their minds when the zenith lights up its stars." And he barricaded himself against every one, even had it been the king himself. This was the antiquated elegance of his day.

明慧·吉诺曼先生便是那样一个人，他的头发一根也不掉，也没有全白，只是花白，并且一贯梳成狗耳朵式。总之，尽管那样，仍俨然可尊。

他是从十八世纪来的：轻浮而自大。

在王朝复辟时期的最初几年中，吉诺曼先生棗当时他还年轻，他在一八一四年①还只有七十四岁棗住在圣日耳曼郊区，圣稣尔比斯教堂附近的塞尔凡多尼街。他只在满了八十岁后又过了些日子，这才脱离社交隐退到沼泽区去。

脱离社交以后，他仍紧守着原来的习惯，主要是白天绝对关上大门，不到天黑，不问有什么事，决不接待任何人。这一习惯是他坚决不改的。他五点钟吃晚饭，接着，大门就开了。这是他那个世纪的风气，他一点也不越规。“阳光是贼，”他说，“它只配望望关上的门窗。规规矩矩的人要到穹苍放射星光时才放射他的智慧。”他待在他的堡垒里，不接待任何人，即使国王来了也一样。这是他那时代古老的高贵气派。

①一八一四年是拿破仑帝国末年和王朝复辟初年。