“What age are you, pretty one?” said I.
“I am thirteen.”
“You are wrong,” said M—— M——, “you have not yet completed your twelfth year.”
“The time will come,” said I, “when you will diminish the tale of your years instead of increasing it.”
“I shall never tell a lie, sir; I am sure of that.”
“So you want to be a nun, do you?”
“I have not yet received my vocation; but even if I live in the world I need not be a liar.”
“You are wrong; you will begin to lie as soon as you have a lover.”
“Will my lover tell lies, too?”
“Certainly he will.”