Blanche, who had by no means expected such declarations from me, but, rather, an uproar and protests, was rather taken aback.
“Well, well, what a man you are!” she exclaimed. “ Mais tu as l’esprit pour comprendre. Sais-tu, mon garçon , although you are a tutor, you ought to have been born a prince. Are you not sorry that your money should be going so quickly?”
“No. The quicker it goes the better.”
“ Mais—sais-tu—mais dis donc , are you really rich? Mais sais-tu , you have too much contempt for money. Qu’est-ce que tu feras après, dis donc? ”
“ Après , I shall go to Homburg, and win another hundred thousand francs.”
“ Oui, oui, c’est ça, c’est magnifique! Ah, I know you will win them, and bring them to me when you have done so. Dis donc —you will end by making me love you. Since you are what you are, I mean to love you all the time, and never to be unfaithful to you. You see, I have not loved you before parce que je croyais que tu n’es qu’un utchitel (quelque chose comme un lacquais, n’est-ce pas?) Yet all the time I have been true to you, parce que je suis bonne fille .”
“You lie!” I interrupted. “Did I not see you, the other day, with Albert—with that black-jowled officer?”
“Oh, oh! Mais tu es— ”
“Yes, you are lying right enough. But what makes you suppose that I should be angry? Rubbish! Il faut que jeunesse se passe. Even if that officer were here now , I should refrain from putting him out of the room if I thought you really cared for him. Only, mind you, do not give him any of my money. You hear?”