— such a saving of time, such a saving of trouble.
Moreover they liked what he had to sell; he was not
perverting the taste of his clients, but rather was he
dexterously bringing to light a desire for his goods
which had always existed. Quite a number of people
had secretly envied that shiny, mock-mahogany suite
purchased by Madame Roustan's late husband ; and
now similar suites could not only be seen any day
and bought by those who had money, but this could
be done without catching a train, without incurring
the least inconvenience.
Yes, but Anatole Kahn meant much more than this:
he meant more than the saving of mere inconveni-
ence, than the pleasant indulgence of extravagant
desires on the plea that his goods were ridiculously
cheap, his delivery prompt, and his terms quite easy,
for Anatole Kahn had begun to mean romance —
the unromantic romance of the pocket.
Oh, but he was tactful, Monsieur Anatole Kahn,
with his soft brown eyes, and his over-red lips from
which he would let fall words as of honey. Never a
suggestion that could lead them to feel that they had
been slow-witted, indolent sluggards; by ignoring
their lost opportunities he had all the more time to
devote to their future. And the future was what
mattered, said Anatole Kahn, the future of the
beautiful town of Saint Loup that would shortly
become known all over France as a summer resort of
the first importance. And when he spoke thus his
soft eyes would gleam as though with the flame of
inspired prevision, while his voice would take on the
emotional timbre of a man who knows himself for
a prophet, so that those who heard him would go
home much impressed in spite of themselves:
*H6u, what ideas! Yet one must admit that he
carries conviction. But then who will come to our
town in the heat — always excepting a few crazy
254