Page 387 - swanns-way

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He might have reminded himself, all the same, that
there were various old friends of his family who were just as
simple as the Verdurins, companions of his early days who
were just as fond of art, that he knew other ‘great-heart-
ed creatures,’ and that, nevertheless, since he had cast his
vote in favour of simplicity, the arts, and magnanimity, he
had entirely ceased to see them. But these people did not
know Odette, and, if they had known her, would never have
thought of introducing her to him.
And so there was probably not, in the whole of the Ver-
durin circle, a single one of the ‘faithful’ who loved them,
or believed that he loved them, as dearly as did Swann. And
yet, when M. Verdurin said that he was not satisfied with
Swann, he had not only expressed his own sentiments, he
had unwittingly discovered his wife’s. Doubtless Swann
had too particular an affection for Odette, as to which he
had failed to take Mme. Verdurin daily into his confidence;
doubtless the very discretion with which he availed himself
of the Verdurins’ hospitality, refraining, often, from coming
to dine with them for a reason which they never suspected,
and in place of which they saw only an anxiety on his part
not to have to decline an invitation to the house of some
‘bore’ or other; doubtless, also, and despite all the precau-
tions which he had taken to keep it from them, the gradual
discovery which they were making of his brilliant position
in society—doubtless all these things contributed to their
general annoyance with Swann. But the real, the fundamen-
tal reason was quite different. What had happened was that

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