"No, no, indeed! I am delighted and I thank you both in his name and in my own: he is a friend of mine, and, besides, a man of great talent. But I am vexed that Trouville has been discovered by three artists before being discovered by a poet."
"Are you a poet, then?"
"Well, I might perhaps venture to say that I am."
"What is a poet? Does it bring in an income?"
"No."
"Well, then, it is a poor sort of business."
I saw I had given Mother Oseraie but an indifferent idea of myself.
"Would you like me to pay you a fortnight in advance?"
"What for?"
"Why! In case you are afraid that as I am a poet I may go without paying you!"