Page 531 - swanns-way

in a blue moon, won’t you let me carry you off and take you
to the Princesse de Parme’s, who would be so pleased to see
you (you know), and Basin too, for that matter; he’s meet-
ing me there. If one didn’t get news of you, sometimes, from
Mémé... Remember, I never see you at all now!’
Swann declined. Having told M. de Charlus that, on leav-
ing Mme. de Saint-Euverte’s, he would go straight home, he
did not care to run the risk, by going on now to the Prin-
cesse de Parme’s, of missing a message which he had, all the
time, been hoping to see brought in to him by one of the
footmen, during the party, and which he was perhaps going
to find left with his own porter, at home.
‘Poor Swann,’ said Mme. des Laumes that night to her
husband; ‘he is always charming, but he does look so dread-
fully unhappy. You will see for yourself, for he has promised
to dine with us one of these days. I do feel that it’s real-
ly absurd that a man of his intelligence should let himself
be made to suffer by a creature of that kind, who isn’t even
interesting, for they tell me, she’s an absolute idiot!’ she con-
cluded with the wisdom invariably shewn by people who,
not being in love themselves, feel that a clever man ought to
be unhappy only about such persons as are worth his while;
which is rather like being astonished that anyone should
condescend to die of cholera at the bidding of so insignifi-
cant a creature as the common bacillus.
Swann now wished to go home, but, just as he was mak-
ing his escape, General de Froberville caught him and asked
for an introduction to Mme. de Cambremer, and he was
obliged to go back into the room to look for her.

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