"
"You shall," I said heartily, and bade him good-night.
In the week that followed, I saw a good deal of Martigny. I would meet
him on the stairs or in the hall; he came again to see me, and I
returned his visit two nights later, upon which occasion he produced
two bottles of Chateau Yquem of a delicacy beyond all praise. And I
grew more and more to like him--he told me many stories of Paris,
which, it seemed, had always been his home, with a wit to which his
slight accent and formal utterance gave new point; he displayed a
kindly interest in my plans which was very pleasing; he was always
tactful, courteous, good-humored. He was plainly a boulevardier, a man
of the world, with an outlook upon life a little startling in its
materiality, but interesting in its freshness, and often amusing in
its frankness. And he seemed to return my liking--certainly it was he
who sought me, not I who sought him. He was being delayed, he
explained, in establishing his business; he could not get just the
quarters he desired, but in another week there would be a place
vacant. He would ask me to draw up the lease. Meanwhile, time hung
rather heavily on his hands.
"Though I do not quarrel with that," he added, sitting in my room one
evening. "It is necessary for me that I take life easily. I have a
weakness of the heart, which has already given me much trouble.
Pages:
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98