"She gives me a stolen glance, amid her court, a look that exposes the
unreality of all this; that resigns for me the world and all men in
it! Truly I have scorned myself for a passion for a few yards of lace,
velvet, and fine lawn, and the hairdresser's feats of skill; a love of
wax-lights, a carriage and a title, a heraldic coronet painted on
window panes, or engraved by a jeweler; in short, a liking for all
that is adventitious and least woman in woman. I have scorned and
reasoned with myself, but all in vain.
"A woman of rank with her subtle smile, her high-born air, and
self-esteem captivates me. The barriers she erects between herself
and the world awaken my vanity, a good half of love. There would be
more relish for me in bliss that all others envied. If my mistress
does nothing that other women do, and neither lives nor conducts
herself like them, wears a cloak that they cannot attain, breathes a
perfume of her own, then she seems to rise far above me. The further
she rises from earth, even in the earthlier aspects of love, the
fairer she becomes for me.
"Luckily for me we have had no queen in France these twenty years, for
I should have fallen in love with her. A woman must be wealthy to
acquire the manners of a princess.
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