g, significant pressure.

"From that day it seems that I made love to her; at least, she declared
afterwards that I had ruined her, captured her, dishonored her, with
rare Machiavelism, with consummate cleverness, with the perseverance of
a mathematician, and the cunning of an Apache Indian.

"But one thing troubled me strangely; where was my triumph to be
accomplished? I lived with my family, and on this point my family was
most particular. I was not bold enough to venture to go to an hotel in
broad daylight with a woman on my arm, and I did not know whom to ask
for advice.

"Now, my fair friend had often said in joke that every young man ought
to have a room for himself somewhere or other from home. We lived in
Paris, and this was a sort of inspiration. I took a room, and she came.
She came one day in November; I should have liked to put off her visit
because I had no fire, and I had no fire because the chimney smoked. The
very evening before, I had spoken to my landlord, a retired shopkeeper,
about it, and he had promised that he would send for the chimneysweep in
a day or two to get it all put to rights.

"As soon as she came in, I said:

"'There is no fire because my chimney smokes.'

"She did not even appear to hear me, but stammered: 'That does not
matter, I have...;' and when I looked surprised, she stopped short in
confusion, and then went on: 'I don't know what I am saying; I am
mad.... I have lost my head.... Oh! what am I doing? Why did I come? How
unhappy I am! What a disgrace, what a disgrace!' And she threw herself
sobbing into my arms.

"I thought that she really felt remorse, and swore that I would respect
her. Then, however, she sank down at my knees, sighing: 'But don't you
see that I love you, that you have overcome me, that it seems as though
you had thrown a charm over me?'

"Then I thought it was about time to show myself a man. But she
trembled, got up, ran and hid behind a wardrobe, crying out: 'Oh! don't
look at me; no! no! If only you did not see me, if we were only in the
dark! I am ashamed in the light. Cannot you imagine it? What a dreadful
dream! Oh! this light, this light!'

"I rushed to the window; I closed the outside shutters, drew the
curtains, and hung a coat over a ray of light that peeped in, and then,
stretching out my hands so as not to fall over the chairs, with my heart
beating, and felt for her, and found her.

"It was a fresh journey for the two of us then, gropin