In my evil moments, I thought of paying court to that woman just for the
sake of annoying Brigitte.
"You see," I said, "how perfectly Madame Daniel understands life! In her
present sprightly humor could one desire a more charming mistress?"
I then paid her the most extravagant compliments; her senseless chatting
I described as unrestraint tempered by finesse, her pretentious
exaggerations as a natural desire to please; was it her fault that she
was poor? At least, she thought of nothing but pleasure and confessed it
freely; she did not preach sermons herself, nor did she listen to them
from others; I went so far as to tell Brigitte that she ought to adopt
her as a model, and that she was just the kind of woman to please me.
Poor Madame Daniel discovered signs of melancholy in Brigitte's eyes. She
was a strange creature, as good and sincere, when you could get finery
out of her head, as she was stupid when absorbed in such frivolous
affairs. On occasions, she could be both good and stupid. One fine day
when they were walking together, she threw herself into Brigitte's arms
and told her that she had noticed that I was beginning to pay court to
her, and that I had made certain proposals to her, the meaning of which
was not doubtful; but she knew that I was another's lover, and as for
her, whatever might happen, she would die rather than destroy the
happiness of a friend.
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