is much In need of a husband* A young girl with a
house and fortune of her own yet no man to protect
her . . . pecaire, the poor child! She may soon be
exposed to God knows what danger. You have asked
my opinion; very well, there it is.3 And he stared
rather meaningly at his friend.
'Now why is he staring like that?5 fretted Goundran.
As he left, Eusebe was standing in his doorway:
'So Mathilde has at last joined the saints!5 he said
blithely, 'And what is to happen to her pretty young
niece who is not yet, I take it, quite ready for heaven?
Tell me, what is to happen to that pretty young niece?5
Goundran shook his head: 'Ah, that is the problem,
and she naturally turns to me for help. . . .'
'I do not doubt that she does!3 winked Eusebe.
Ignoring the wink which might, after all, have
resulted from nothing more gross than an eyelash,
Goundran went on to pour forth his woes: 'But how
can one hope to cure the child's sorrow? Mathilde
was a mother to the little Elise, and now all day long
she does nothing but weep, and when I am near her
she weeps more loudly, so that I cannot think how
to act. . . .'
'Then you must be a cretin,5 remarked Eusebe.
'There is only one cure for a virgin who weeps, quite
a simple cure — her immediate deflowering.5
Goundran turned and left him in angry disgust — a
lascivious pig of a fellow, Eusebe!
Yet wherever he went Goundran heard the same
thing expressed in less unconventional language; the
girl ought to marry and marry at once; what she needed
was a strong and protective husband. And every
one seemed to be talking at him as though he were to
blame, which was surely unfair. Had he not taken his
friend to the house, the excellent Bertrand who was
such a.fine captain? Had he not taken him many
times, always doing his best to egg on the courtship?
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