Page 577 - swanns-way

obedience to her command, gone home with her, and while
she was interspersing her kisses with passionate words, in
strange contrast to her habitual coldness, he thought sud-
denly that he heard a sound; he rose, searched everywhere
and found nobody, but he had not the courage to return to
his place by her side; whereupon she, in a towering rage,
broke a vase, with ‘I never can do anything right with you,
you impossible person!’ And he was left uncertain whether
she had not actually had some man concealed in the room,
whose jealousy she had wished to wound, or else to inflame
his senses.
Sometimes he repaired to ‘gay’ houses, hoping to learn
something about Odette, although he dared not mention
her name. ‘I have a little thing here, you’re sure to like,’ the
‘manageress’ would greet him, and he would stay for an
hour or so, talking dolefully to some poor girl who sat there
astonished that he went no further. One of them, who was
still quite young and attractive, said to him once, ‘Of course,
what I should like would be to find a real friend, then he
might be quite certain, I should never go with any other men
again.’ ‘Indeed, do you think it possible for a woman really
to be touched by a man’s being in love with her, and nev-
er to be unfaithful to him?’ asked Swann anxiously. ‘Why,
surely! It all depends on their characters!’ Swann could not
help making the same remarks to these girls as would have
delighted the Princesse des Laumes. To the one who was in
search of a friend he said, with a smile: ‘But how nice of you,
you’ve put on blue eyes, to go with your sash.’ ‘And you too,
you’ve got blue cuffs on.’ ‘What a charming conversation we

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