“Oh! far from it, my dear Daréna; I thank you. But did the pretty Pole write me a word in reply?”
“No, she didn’t write you; perhaps she doesn’t write French very well—that is excusable in a foreigner; but women abound in self-esteem; they are afraid of being laughed at if they make a mistake in grammar; in fact, the enchanting Globeska replied by word of mouth, and what she said is worth all the billets-doux that ever were written.”
“What did she say?”
“She said to her maid, whom I had seduced—I mean that I bribed her with money: ‘Say to this young Frenchman who has written me, that I share his passion. Since I saw him, I dream of him all the time, even when I am not asleep.’”
“Did she say that? Oh! what joy!”
“Let us finish: ‘I am bound to a tyrant whom I detest. Let this Frenchman devise some way to carry me off, and I am ready to go with him—I will throw myself into his arms.’—Well, what do you say to that, my lucky Lovelace? I should say that you had turned her head!”
“Yes, my friend, I am very glad; for I feel that I like that young woman better than all the rest. With her it seems to me that I shall be more at my ease than with the women in fashionable society, who always intimidate me.”
“You will be very much at your ease, I promise you; the Poles are very unceremonious.”
“But she talks about my carrying her off. Can that be done? Is it allowable to carry off a man’s wife?”
“Oh! what a child! In the first place, you don’t ask leave; and secondly, you see that she herself wants it done. Never fear, I will look after the abduction; I make that my business.”