IV
YOUNG COLINET
A fortnight had passed. Dupont called very frequently on his neighbor, of whom he was more enamored than ever; for to the charms of her person Mademoiselle Georgette added wit, high spirits, and entertaining conversation. Less than these were enough to turn the head of our provincial, who lost his appetite, and slept no more than two hours in succession during the night, because his love was in no degree satisfied, and his desires augmented with the presence of her who gave birth to them. But he was no further advanced in that direction than on the first day. If he took the girl's hand, she laughingly withdrew it; if he tried to kiss her, she pushed him away without ceremony; if he ventured to place his hand on her knee, or tried to put his arm about her waist, she assumed a severe expression and said to him in a very decided tone:
"If you don't stop that, I'll turn you out and never admit you again!"
Thereupon Dupont was fain to cease his audacious experiments, and said to himself again as he went away:
"It will take a long time! it will take much longer than I thought! However, I shall certainly gain my end; for if the girl hadn't found me to her liking, she wouldn't have consented to receive my visits, she wouldn't go out with me and accept presents from me. She plays the cruel, to give greater value to her conquest. That is coquetry, yes, immodesty—but it can't last forever."
Mademoiselle Georgette did, in fact, accept Dupont's escort readily enough to the play, to concerts, and to go out to walk. As for balls, Dupont did not offer to take her to any, nor did she seem to desire it. One thing she had always refused: that was, to dine in a private dining-room at a restaurant.
"I am willing to dine with you at a restaurant," she said; "but we will dine in the main dining-room, with other people."
In vain did Dupont say:
"The service isn't so good in the main dining-room; and then, too, it's bad form—ladies who dine at restaurants never go to the public room."
Georgette was inflexible; she would not give way. As a general rule, she seemed to go with Dupont, not for the pleasure of being with him, but to see the people and to be seen herself.