"The good ones are dreadfully dull, and it is wrong to read the
amusing ones--until one is married. I wonder why?"
Gouache did not find any immediate answer and might have been
seriously embarrassed had not Giovanni Sant' Ilario come up just
then. Gouache rose to relinquish his seat to the newcomer, and as
he passed before the table deftly turned over the book with his
finger so that the title should not be visible. It jarred
disagreeably on his sensibilities to think that Giovanni might see
a copy of Manon Lescaut lying by the elbow of Donna Faustina
Montevarchi. Sant' Ilario did not see the action and probably
would not have noticed it if he had.
Anastase pondered all that afternoon and part of the next morning
over his short conversation, and the only conclusion at which he
arrived was that Faustina was the most fascinating girl he had
ever met. When he compared the result produced in his mind with
his accurate recollection of what had passed between them, he
laughed at his haste and called himself a fool for yielding to
such nonsensical ideas. The conversation of a young girl, he
argued, could only be amusing for a short time. He wondered what
he should say at their next meeting, since all such talk,
according to his notions, must inevitably consist of commonplaces.
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