"That will be amusing for us! At Lyon, we could at least vary our amusements a little, see people——"
"Yes, the Marquise de Versac, and others, eh?"
"But here! why, we know the city by heart already. If one could make an acquaintance or two, obtain an introduction to a few houses—but when a man has no money, he doesn't dare to show his face anywhere, for it gives one an awkward manner that betrays one at once. If it's absolutely necessary, in every place we stop, for you to know the history of every tree, every stone, and every view, and to pause in rapt contemplation beside every brook, why, we shan't get to Italy for ten years! and your life won't be long enough for you to see half of Europe."
"I must say," observed Ménard, "that monsieur le baron's remarks seem to me most judicious. We move about as rapidly as a tortoise, si parva licet componere magnis."
"I could forgive you for making a minute examination of Naples or Florence; there are monuments there which one cannot contemplate too long. Gaze in admiration at the Coliseum or the Basilica of Saint Peter at Rome; walk on Mount Pausilippus or Vesuvius, and I shall not be surprised; but what do you find so extraordinary in this province? It is picturesque and romantic, I agree; but we shall find some much more remarkable views on our journey. Wait, before going into ecstasies, until you are on the glaciers of Mont Blanc, or on some peak of the Apennines; and don't stand a whole day in admiration before an old mulberry-tree overhanging a tiny stream; for there are trees, shrubbery, turf, and fountains everywhere—except in the African desert; and we are not going so far as that."
"My friend," said Frédéric, with a smile, "I have found here what one would seek in vain elsewhere; and that, to my mind, is of more value than all the wonders of the world."
With that, Frédéric went to his room and to bed, paying no heed to Dubourg, who called after him:
"For heaven's sake, tell us what you've found?—What in the devil can he have found, Monsieur Ménard?"
"I am trying to think, monsieur le baron."
"Gad! I wonder if it's the wallet that was stolen from me at Lyon."