"
"I take note of the promise," said Valentin, "I register the vow."
M. de Bellegarde began to gaze at the cornice again; he apparently had
something more to say. "I must do my mother the justice," he resumed, "I
must do myself the justice, to say that our decision was not easy. Such
an arrangement was not what we had expected. The idea that my sister
should marry a gentleman--ah--in business was something of a novelty."
"So I told you, you know," said Valentin raising his finger at Newman.
"The novelty has not quite worn away, I confess," the marquis went on;
"perhaps it never will, entirely. But possibly that is not altogether
to be regretted," and he gave his thin smile again. "It may be that the
time has come when we should make some concession to novelty. There
had been no novelties in our house for a great many years. I made the
observation to my mother, and she did me the honor to admit that it was
worthy of attention."
"My dear brother," interrupted Valentin, "is not your memory just
here leading you the least bit astray? Our mother is, I may say,
distinguished for her small respect of abstract reasoning. Are you
very sure that she replied to your striking proposition in the gracious
manner you describe? You know how terribly incisive she is sometimes.
Didn't she, rather, do you the honor to say, 'A fiddlestick for your
phrases! There are better reasons than that'?"
"Other reasons were discussed," said the marquis, without looking
at Valentin, but with an audible tremor in his voice; "some of them
possibly were better.
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