Volume III Part 8 (2/2)
The sa I preached Tiretta a severe yet friendly sermon
I pointed out to him that when he played he was at the e too, and so in calling hi his life
”Am I to let myself be robbed, then?”
”Yes, you have a free choice in the matter; nobody will make you play”
”I certainly will not pay him that hundred louis”
”I advise you to do so, and to do so before you are asked”
”You have a knack of persuading one to do what you will, even though one be disposed to take no notice of your advice”
”That's because I speak from heart and head at once, and have some experience in these affairs as well”
Three quarters of an hour afterwards I went to bed and ht than before, for it is often a matter of some difficulty to pluck the first flower; and the price which otis with the fa the roses on my sweetheart's cheeks, I returned to Paris Three or four days later Tiretta came to tellto dine at Madame's, and that she requested me to make one of the party I was prepared for the news, but the blood rushed into my face Tiretta saw it, and to a certain extent divined s ”You are in love with the niece,” said he
”Why do you think so?”
”By the mystery you make about her; but love betrays itself even by its silence”
”You are a knowing fellow, Tiretta I will come to dinner, but don't say a word to anybody”
My heart was rent in twain Possibly if the merchant had put off his arrival for a month I should have welcomed it; but to have only just lifted the nectar to my lips, and to see the precious vessel escape fros, and the very recollection is not devoid of bitterness
I was in a fearful state of perplexity, as I alhenever it was necessary for me to resolve, and I felt that I could not do so If the reader has been placed in the sas I could not , nor could I resolve to wed her ain certain happiness
I went to Villette and was a little surprised to find Mdlle de la Meure more elaborately dressed than usual
”Your intended,” I said, ”would have pronounced you char without all that”
”My aunt doesn't think so”
”You have not seen hih I trust with your help never to become his wife”
Soon after, she arrived with Corneent in this business transaction The merchant was a fine ood though not elaborate He introduced himself simply but in a polite manner to Madame, and he did not look at his future wife till the aunt presented her to hi; and withoutway that he trusted the impression he had made on her was equal to that which she had made on him Her only ansas a low curtsy, but she studied him carefully
Dinner was served, and in the course of the e The happy pair only caught each other's eyes by chance, and did not speak to one another After dinner Mdlle
de la Meure went to her room, and the aunt went into her closet with the banker and the merchant, and they were in close conversation for two hours At the end of that tied to return to Paris, and Mada her niece, told the , and that she was sure that her niece would be glad to see hiain
”Won't you, my dear?”