"What do you suppose will become of me in this detestable city?" he said to her. "You want me to work; I have tried it and I can't do it. I was not born like you, with a little steel spring in my brain, so that I have only to press the button to set the will at work. I am a creator! Great or small, weak or powerful, a creator is a machine which obeys nobody and which God sets in motion, when it seems good to Him, with His breath or with the passing breeze. I am incapable of doing anything whatsoever when I am bored, or when I do not like my surroundings."
"How is it possible for an intellectual man to be bored," said Thérèse, "unless he is in a dungeon, deprived of light and air? Are there no beautiful things to see in this city which enchanted you so the first day, no interesting excursions to take in the neighborhood, no good book to consult, no intelligent people to talk with?"
"I have been buried in beautiful things up to my eyes; I don't like to drive alone; the best books irritate me when they tell me what I am not in the mood to believe. As for making acquaintances—I have letters of recommendation which you know very well that I can't use!"
"No, I don't know it; why not?"
"Because my friends in society naturally gave me letters to society people here; but society people don't live shut up within four walls, without ever thinking of amusing themselves; and as you are not in society, Thérèse, you can't go with me, so I should have to go alone!"
"Why not in the day-time, as I have to work all day in that old palace?"
"In the day-time, people make calls, and form plans for the evening. The evening is the time for amusement in all countries; don't you know that?"
"Very well, go out sometimes in the evening, since it must be so: go to balls and conversazioni. Don't gamble, that is all I ask."
"And that is just what I cannot promise. In society, one must devote one's self to play or to the ladies."
"So that all men in society either ruin themselves at play, or are involved in love-affairs?"