Volume I Part 51 (1/2)
”You have acted,” she said, ”ree with me that I cannot be certain that this piece of paper is really h I see my name on it”
”True, madam; and if you are not certain of it, I confess ”
”I rant that I could not swear to it”
”Granted,days it struck ularly altered She never received reat patience until heradmitted into her presence
If I related any story, any adventure, she pretended not to understand, and affected not to see the point of an anecdote or a jest; very often she would purposely not look at me, and then I was sure to relate badly
If M D---- R---- laughed at so for, and when he had told her, she would say it was insipid or dull If one of her bracelets becaain, but either she would not give , and thehtest notice of it If M D---- R---- excitedor witty, and I did not speak i, and adding that the wit of poor M Casanova orn out Full of rage, I would plead guilty by hly miserable, for I did not see any cause for that extraordinary change in her feelings, being conscious that I had not given her any motive for it I wanted to shew her openly my indifference and contee would forsakeM D---- R---- asking me whether I had often been in love, I answered,
”Three times, my lord”
”And always happily, of course”
”Always unhappily The first ti an ecclesiastic, I durst not speak openly of my love The second, because a cruel, unexpected event compelled me to leave the woman I loved at the very moment in which my happiness would have been co of pity, hich I inspired the beloved object, induced her to curemy felicity”
”But what specific remedies did she use to effect your cure?”
”She has ceased to be kind”
”I understand she has treated you cruelly, and you call that pity, do you? You are mistaken”
”Certainly,” said Madame F----, ”a woman may pity thehim to cure him of his passion That woman has never felt any love for you”
”I cannot, I will not believe it, hly; for when I happen to think of her, I feel nothing but indifference and coldness But ”
”Your convalescence lasted, I suppose, until you fell in love with another”
”With another, ht I had just told you that the third time I loved was the last”
A few days after that conversation, M D---- R---- told me that Madame F---- was not well, that he could not keep her coo to her, as he was sure she would be glad to see me I obeyed, and told Mada on a sofa Without looking at me, she told me she was feverish, and would not ask me to remain with her, because I would feel weary
”I could not experience any weariness in your society, madam; at all events, I can leave you only by your express command, and, in that case, I must spend the next four hours in your ante-room, for M D--- R---- has told me to wait for him here”
”If so, you may take a seat”
Her cold and distant manner repelled me, but I loved her, and I had never seen her so beautiful, a slight fever ani in its beauty I kept where I was, dumb and as motionless as a statue, for a quarter of an hour Then she rang for her maid, and asked me to leave her alone for a moment I was called back soon after, and she said to me,
”What has become of your cheerfulness?”
”If it has disappeared, madam, it can only be by your will Call it back, and you will see it return in full force”