A penniless cavalry veteran with a good moustache is given a job on a Paris newspaper and discovers that every rung above him — press, salon, ministry — can be reached through a woman. Maupassant follows Georges Duroy up all of them without once raising his voice or offering a judgement. Paintings of boulevards, newsrooms and gaslit salons. Gilded Library decoration of newspaper sheets, a champagne coupe and a lady's glove.