“If you were ugly, I would love you all the same; for no one but you can say such agreeable things.”
“What have I said?”
“You have given expression to the most delightful flattery.”
“I was not conscious of it.”
“Fortunately, it was only a compliment.”
“And the difference?”
“The difference? There are two kinds of compliments,—those which are sought for, and those that are offered gratuitously; those which spring from the heart, and those which come merely from the lips. The one class are used but once for the being beloved; the others are employed at all times and by everybody,—they are current coin, of which men have a full supply.”
“I comprehend. The poorest may seem to be the richest.”
“Hold,” said Adéonne, on reaching the Rue Favart. “Do you see that little window, the third of the first story, above the entresol? That is the window of my loge.”