Using his photographic memory, he quickly advances at the Besancon seminary under Pirard, who soon secures for him the position of personal secretary to the Marquis de la Mole, but his ambitions to follow his hero Napoleon are shattered when his previous indiscretions are exposed by his first love Mme.
The protagonist turns down a job working with his friend Fouque in the lumber business because he desires a noble title, which he is finally given so that he can marry Mathilde, who he has impregnated.  Using his photographic memory, he quickly advances at the Besancon seminary under Pirard, who soon secures for him the position of personal secretary to the Marquis de la Mole, but his ambitions to follow his hero Napoleon are shattered when his previous indiscretions are exposed by his first love Mme. de Renal.  FTP, what is this work about Julien Sorel, the best known work of Stendhal?
The protagonist turns down a job working with his friend Fouque in the lumber business because he desires a noble title, which he is finally given so that he can marry Mathilde, who he has impregnated.  
The Red and the Black