Page 390 - swanns-way

illustrations from among the most topical subjects of the
day, when he spoke of philosophy or history, principally be-
cause he regarded those sciences as no more, really, than
a preparation for life itself, and imagined that he was see-
ing put into practice by the ‘little clan’ what hitherto he had
known only from books; and also, perhaps, because, hav-
ing had drilled into him as a boy, and having unconsciously
preserved, a feeling of reverence for certain subjects, he
thought that he was casting aside the scholar’s gown when
he ventured to treat those subjects with a conversational li-
cence, which seemed so to him only because the folds of the
gown still clung.
Early in the course of the dinner, when M. de Forcheville,
seated on the right of Mme. Verdurin, who, in the ‘newcom-
er’s’ honour, had taken great pains with her toilet, observed
to her: ‘Quite original, that white dress,’ the Doctor, who
had never taken his eyes off him, so curious was he to learn
the nature and attributes of what he called a ‘de,’ and was
on the look-out for an opportunity of attracting his atten-
tion, so as to come into closer contact with him, caught in
its flight the adjective ‘blanche’ and, his eyes still glued to
his plate, snapped out, ‘Blanche? Blanche of Castile?’ then,
without moving his head, shot a furtive glance to right
and left of him, doubtful, but happy on the whole. While
Swann, by the painful and futile effort which he made to
smile, testified that he thought the pun absurd, Forcheville
had shewn at once that he could appreciate its subtlety, and
that he was a man of the world, by keeping within its proper
limits a mirth the spontaneity of which had charmed Mme.

390 Swann’s Way