DOI article:
Harland, Henry: P'tit-Bleu
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27811#0085
8i
By Henry Harland
^ You are trying to make me angry, aren't you ? But I refuse
to leave you till you have admitted that you are wrong," she
persisted. " It's an outrageous slander. Monsieur Long (that is
his name, Monsieur Long), he lives in the same house with me,
on the same landing; etvoilatout. Dame! Can I prevent him?
Am I the landlord ? And, for that, they say I'm ' collee ' with
him. I don't care what they say. But you ! I swear to you it
is an infamous lie. Will you come home with me now, and
see ? "
" Oh, that's mere quibbling. You go with him everywhere,
you dine with him, you are never seen without him."
" Dieu de Dieu ! " wailed P'tit-Bleu. " How shall I convince
you ? He is my neighbour. Is it forbidden to know one's neigh-
bours ? I swear to you, I give you my word of honour, it is
nothing else. How to make you believe me ? "
" Well, my dear," said I, " if you wish me to believe you, break
with him. Chuck him up. Drop his acquaintance. Nobody in
his senses will believe you so long as you go trapesing about the
Quarter with him."
" Oh, but no," she cried, " I can't drop his acquaintance."
" Ah, there it is," cried 1.
" There are reasons. There are reasons why I can't, why I
mustn't."
" I thought so."
" Ah, voyons ! " she broke out, losing patience. " Will you
not believe my word of honour ? Will you force me to tell
you things that don't concern you—that I have no right to tell ?
Well, then, listen. I cannot drop his acquaintance, because—this
is a secret—he would die of shame if he thought I had betrayed it
—you will never breathe it to a soul—because I have discovered
that he has a—a vice, a weakness. No—but listen. He is an
Englishman,
By Henry Harland
^ You are trying to make me angry, aren't you ? But I refuse
to leave you till you have admitted that you are wrong," she
persisted. " It's an outrageous slander. Monsieur Long (that is
his name, Monsieur Long), he lives in the same house with me,
on the same landing; etvoilatout. Dame! Can I prevent him?
Am I the landlord ? And, for that, they say I'm ' collee ' with
him. I don't care what they say. But you ! I swear to you it
is an infamous lie. Will you come home with me now, and
see ? "
" Oh, that's mere quibbling. You go with him everywhere,
you dine with him, you are never seen without him."
" Dieu de Dieu ! " wailed P'tit-Bleu. " How shall I convince
you ? He is my neighbour. Is it forbidden to know one's neigh-
bours ? I swear to you, I give you my word of honour, it is
nothing else. How to make you believe me ? "
" Well, my dear," said I, " if you wish me to believe you, break
with him. Chuck him up. Drop his acquaintance. Nobody in
his senses will believe you so long as you go trapesing about the
Quarter with him."
" Oh, but no," she cried, " I can't drop his acquaintance."
" Ah, there it is," cried 1.
" There are reasons. There are reasons why I can't, why I
mustn't."
" I thought so."
" Ah, voyons ! " she broke out, losing patience. " Will you
not believe my word of honour ? Will you force me to tell
you things that don't concern you—that I have no right to tell ?
Well, then, listen. I cannot drop his acquaintance, because—this
is a secret—he would die of shame if he thought I had betrayed it
—you will never breathe it to a soul—because I have discovered
that he has a—a vice, a weakness. No—but listen. He is an
Englishman,