“Well, I think a man with the artistic temperament ought to marry a woman who can look after him from the material side. She should be a buffer between him and the world, always willing to keep in the background and never be a constraint on him. A real genius, on the other hand, ought never to marry. He’s altogether too impossible a person. But then, Madden, you know you’re not a genius.”
He said this so oddly that I burst out laughing, and with that I felt my grey mood lifting.
“By the way,” said Helstern, just as we were parting, “I don’t like to mention it, but what with hospital expenses and so on you’ve been having a pretty hard time of it lately. I’ve just had my quarterly allowance—more money than I know what to do with. If a hundred francs would be of any use to you I’ll never miss it.”
I was going to refuse; but the thought that the offer was made in such a generous spirit made me hesitate; and the further thought that at the moment all the money I had was ten francs, made me accept. So Helstern handed me a pinkish bank note.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” I said. “But don’t be afraid, I’ll pay you back one of these days. You know I’ve got a novel knocking around the publishers. When it gets accepted I’ll be on velvet. In the meantime this will help to keep the pot a-boiling. That reminds me I must find a new place to hole up in. Do you know of any vacant rooms in your quarter?”
“In the famous Quartier Mouffetard? Come with me and we’ll have a look.”
The result was that for a rent of twenty francs a month I found myself the tenant of a spacious garret in the rue Gracieuse. So, feeling well pleased, I returned to the room in the rue D’Assas to gather together our few effects. I was so engaged when a knock came to the door and the little Breton bonne appeared.
“A lady to see Monsieur.”
I rose from the heap of soiled linen I was trying to compress into as small bulk as possible.
“Show her in,” I said with some surprise.