I never could force him to live as I did when I was
a bachelor. Sometimes I had to use a sort of friendly coercion to make
him go to the theatre with me when I was alone, or to the jovial
little dinners I used to give at a tavern. He doesn't like social
life."
"What does he like, then?" asked Clementine.
"Poland; he loves Poland and pines for it. His only spendings are sums
he gives, more in my name than in his own, to some of our poor
brother-exiles."
"Well, I shall love him, the fine fellow!" said the countess, "he
looks to me as simple-hearted as he is grand."
"All these pretty things you have about you," continued Adam, who
praised his friend in the noblest sincerity, "he picked up; he bought
them at auction, or as bargains from the dealers. Oh! he's keener than
they are themselves. If you see him rubbing his hands in the
courtyard, you may be sure he has traded away one good horse for a
better. He lives for me; his happiness is to see me elegant, in a
perfectly appointed equipage. The duties he takes upon himself are all
accomplished without fuss or emphasis. One evening I lost twenty
thousand francs at whist. 'What will Paz say?' thought I as I walked
home. Paz paid them to me, not without a sigh; but he never reproached
me, even by a look. But that sigh of his restrained me more than the
remonstrances of uncles, mothers, or wives could have done.
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