FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104  
105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   >>   >|  
rose-coloured boudoir wherein she passed the greater part of her life. Madame d'Arlange conceived a violent friendship for him, and became eloquent in his praises. "A most charming young man," she declared, "delicate and sensible! What a pity he is not born!" (Her ladyship meant born of noble parentage, but used the phrase as ignoring the fact of the unfortunates who are not noble having been born at all) "One can receive him though, all the same; his forefathers were very decent people, and his mother was a Cottevise who, however, went wrong. I wish him well, and will do all I can to push him forward." The strongest proof of friendship he received from her was, that she condescended to pronounce his name like the rest of the world. She had preserved that ridiculous affectation of forgetfulness of the names of people who were not of noble birth, and who in her opinion had no right to names. She was so confirmed in this habit, that, if by accident she pronounced such a name correctly, she immediately repeated it with some ludicrous alteration. During his first visit, M. Daburon was extremely amused at hearing his name altered every time she addressed him. Successively she made it Taburon, Dabiron, Maliron, Laliron, Laridon; but, in three months time, she called him Daburon as distinctly as if he had been a duke of something, and a lord of somewhere. Occasionally she exerted herself to prove to the worthy magistrate that he was a nobleman, or at least ought to be. She would have been happy, if she could have persuaded him to adopt some title, and have a helmet engraved upon his visiting cards. "How is it possible," said she, "that your ancestors, eminent, wealthy, and influential, never thought of being raised from the common herd and securing a title for their descendants? Today you would possess a presentable pedigree.--" "My ancestors were wise," responded M. Daburon. "They preferred being foremost among their fellow-citizens to becoming last among the nobles." Upon which the marchioness explained, and proved to demonstration, that between the most influential and wealthy citizen and the smallest scion of nobility, there was an abyss that all the money in the world could not fill up. They who were so surprised at the frequency of the magistrate's visits to this celebrated "relic of the past" did not know that lady's granddaughter, or, at least, did not recollect her; she went out so seldom! The old mar
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104  
105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Daburon

 

people

 

friendship

 
influential
 
ancestors
 

wealthy

 
magistrate
 

Occasionally

 

eminent

 

thought


common
 

called

 

raised

 

distinctly

 

exerted

 
persuaded
 

worthy

 

nobleman

 

helmet

 
engraved

visiting

 
pedigree
 

surprised

 

frequency

 

smallest

 

nobility

 

visits

 
celebrated
 

seldom

 

recollect


granddaughter

 

citizen

 

responded

 

preferred

 

months

 

presentable

 

descendants

 

possess

 

foremost

 

fellow


marchioness

 

explained

 

proved

 

demonstration

 

citizens

 

nobles

 
securing
 

addressed

 

decent

 

mother