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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: Leopold, the Order of Isabella, the cross of Saint-Vladimir, second
class, the Order of Civil Merit of Bavaria, the Papal Order of the
Golden Spur,--all the lesser orders, in short, besides the Grand
Cross.
"Three months ago Claudine drove to La Palferine's door in her
splendid carriage with its armorial bearings. Du Bruel's grandfather
was a farmer of taxes ennobled towards the end of Louis Quatorze's
reign. Cherin composed his coat-of-arms for him, so the Count's
coronet looks not amiss above a scutcheon innocent of Imperial
absurdities. In this way, in the short space of three years, Claudine
had carried out the programme laid down for her by the charming,
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