"Yes," he said, "friendship, my dear angel, knows nothing of bankrupt
sentiments and collapsed joys. Love, after giving more than it has,
ends by giving less than it receives."
"One side as well as the other," remarked Clementine laughing.
"Yes," continued Adam, "whereas friendship only increases. You need
not pucker up your lips at that, for we are, you and I, as much
friends as lovers; we have, at least I hope so, combined the two
sentiments in our happy marriage."
"I'll explain to you what it is that has made you and Thaddeus such
good friends," said Clementine. "The difference in the lives you lead
comes from your tastes and from necessity; from your likings, not your
positions. As far as one can judge from merely seeing a man once, and
also from what you tell me, there are times when the subaltern might
become the superior."
"Oh, Paz is truly my superior," said Adam, naively; "I have no
advantage over him except mere luck."
His wife kissed him for the generosity of those words.
"The extreme care with which he hides the grandeur of his feelings is
one form of his superiority," continued the count. "I said to him
once: 'You are a sly one; you have in your heart a vast domain within
which you live and think.' He has a right to the title of count; but
in Paris he won't be called anything but captain.
Pages:
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46