Volume VIII Part 52 (1/2)
”'No, not yet'
”And she went on drinking
”She was so in a little while, not so tipsy as to lose her senses, but tipsy enough to tell the truth, as it seemed togirl succeeded more intimate confidences as to her relations with her husband She made them to me without restraint till she wearied me with them, under this pretext, which she repeated a hundred ti to you To who if it were not to you?' So I was made acquainted with all the habits, all the defects, all the fads and the most secret fancies of her husband
”And by way of clai my approval she asked: 'Isn't he a flat? Do you think he has taken a feather out of me? eh? So, the first time I saw you, I said to myself: ”Let me see! I like hianme'
”I must have presented an odd face to her eyes at that reat outbursts of laughter, she exclaio about it cautiously; but, when men pay attention to us, you dear blockhead, you see we like it, and then theyA lance at us, that wefor you, you stupid! I did not knohat to do in order to make you see that I was in a hurry Oh! yes, flowers, verses, co else at all! I was very near letting you go,up your mind And only to think that half the men in the world are like you, while the other half, ha! ha! ha!'
”This laugh of hers sent a cold shi+ver down my back I stammered: 'The other half--what about the other half?'
”She still went on drinking, her eyes steeped in the fu wine, herthe truth which sometimes takes possession of drunkards
”She replied: 'Ah! the other half makes quick work of it--too quick; but, all the saht There are days e don't hit it off with theht, in spite of everything My dear, if you only kne funny it is--the way the two kinds of men act! You see, the tiine what sort the others are and what they do, immediately, as soon as they find theet many a slap in the face from us, no doubt of that, but what does that matter? They knoe're the sort that kiss and don't tell! They knoell, they do!'
”I stared at her with the eyes of an Inquisitor, and with afrom her How often had I put this question to myself: 'How do the otherto us?' I was fully conscious of the fact that, fro to the sa-room, these two men, if they found themselves, one after the other, all alone with her, would conduct theh they were both equally well acquainted with her We can guess at the first glance of the eye that certain beings, naturally endoith the power of seduction, or onlythan we are, reach after an hour's chat with a woree of intimacy to which ould not attain in a year Well, do these men, these seducers, these bold adventurers, take, when the occasion presents itself to them, liberties with their hands and lips which to us, the ties, but which women perhaps look on es to their irresistible grace!
”So I asked her: 'There are woh, who think these men very improper?'
”She threw herself back on her chair in order to laugh h, one of those laughs which ends in nervous fits, then, a little more calmly, she replied: 'Ha!
ha! , at once, all, you understand, and s, too'
”I felt myself horrified as if she had just revealed to
”'And you permit this, you women?'
”'No, we don't permit it; we slap them in the face, but, for all that, they amuse us! And then with them one is always afraid, one is never easy Youa duel You have to keep staring into their eyes to see what they are thinking of or where they are putting their hands They are blackguards, if you like, but they love us better than you do'
”A singular and unexpected sensation stole over h a bachelor, and determined to remain a bachelor, I suddenly felt in my breast the spirit of a husband in the face of this impudent confidence I felt myself the friend, the ally, the brother of all these confiding men who are, if not robbed, at least defrauded by all the rufflers of woe e to you, and in begging of you to address a warning note to the great ar husbands
”However, I had still so
”I went on to inquire: 'How is it that you never relate these adventures to anyone, you woazed at me with profound pity, and with such an air of sincerity that, for the ht she had been soberized by astonishment
”'We--But, my dear fellow, you are very foolish Why do we never talk to you about these things? Ha! ha! ha! Does your valet tell you about his tips, his odd sous? Well, this is our little tip The husband ought not to coo farther But how dull you are!
To talk of these things would be to give the alarm to all ninnies! Ah!
how dull you are! And then what har as we don't yield?'