Page 530 - swanns-way

tell some one about his crime. And when he heard the Prin-
cess say that life was a dreadful business, he felt as much
comforted as if she had spoken to him of Odette.
‘Yes, life is a dreadful business! We must meet more of-
ten, my dear friend. What is so nice about you is that you
are not cheerful. We could spend a most pleasant evening
together.’
‘I’m sure we could; why not come down to Guermantes?
My mother-in-law would be wild with joy. It’s supposed to
be very ugly down there, but I must say, I find the neighbor-
hood not at all unattractive; I have a horror of ‘picturesque
spots’.’
‘I know it well, it’s delightful!’ replied Swann. ‘It’s almost
too beautiful, too much alive for me just at present; it’s a
country to be happy in. It’s perhaps because I have lived
there, but things there speak to me so. As soon as a breath
of wind gets up, and the cornfields begin to stir, I feel that
some one is going to appear suddenly, that I am going to
hear some news; and those little houses by the water’s edge...
I should be quite wretched!’
‘Oh! my dearest Charles, do take care; there’s that appall-
ing Rampillon woman; she’s seen me; hide me somewhere,
do tell me again, quickly, what it was that happened to her;
I get so mixed up; she’s just married off her daughter, or
her lover (I never can remember),—perhaps both—to each
other! Oh, no, I remember now, she’s been dropped by her
Prince... Pretend to be talking, so that the poor old Berenice
sha’n’t come and invite me to dinner. Anyhow, I’m going.
Listen, my dearest Charles, now that I have seen you, once

530 Swann’s Way