Page 406 - swanns-way

sisting that the story was indubitably true and exquisitely
funny. The Doctor, who had been listening, had an idea that
it was the right moment to interject ‘Se non è vero,’ but he
was not quite certain of the words, and was afraid of being
caught out.
After dinner, Forcheville went up to the Doctor. ‘She
can’t have been at all bad looking, Mme. Verdurin; any-
how, she’s a woman you can really talk to; that’s all I want.
Of course she’s getting a bit broad in the beam. But Mme.
de Crécy! There’s a little woman who knows what’s what,
all right. Upon my word and soul, you can see at a glance
she’s got the American eye, that girl has. We are speaking of
Mme. de Crécy,’ he explained, as M. Verdurin joined them,
his pipe in his mouth. ‘I should say that, as a specimen of
the female form—‘
‘I’d rather have it in my bed than a clap of thunder!’ the
words came tumbling from Cottard, who had for some
time been waiting in vain until Forcheville should pause for
breath, so that he might get in his hoary old joke, a chance
for which might not, he feared, come again, if the conver-
sation should take a different turn; and he produced it now
with that excessive spontaneity and confidence which may
often be noticed attempting to cover up the coldness, and
the slight flutter of emotion, inseparable from a prepared
recitation. Forcheville knew and saw the joke, and was thor-
oughly amused. As for M. Verdurin, he was unsparing of his
merriment, having recently discovered a way of expressing
it by a symbol, different from his wife’s, but equally simple
and obvious. Scarcely had he begun the movement of head

406 Swann’s Way