Arthur Sherburne Hardy

“ There is no sin in moderation. For example, you are about to breakfast, which in itself is quite harmless. But if you should eat to excess—"
"Of course. What is it to gamble to excess?"
"To gamble to excess"—M. de Sade thought for a moment—"is to risk what one cannot afford to lose, to incur a debt one cannot pay."
"Oh, that is frightful," cried Anne. "I should die if I could not pay what I owe."
"That is what happens to some gamblers, my child. They go to some quiet spot and end their lives—or else, sometimes, they look about for a young girl with a dot—in order to commence again." ”

“ Diane resumed.
"'Anne,' I said, 'you have seen Monsieur de Balloy twice—once at the opera and once at Madame Texier's ball.' 'Mamma, dear little mamma,' she replied, looking up into my face, 'I adore him.' 'And you are ready to give yourself to a man you have seen but twice?' 'Yes, mamma, I am ready—to-morrow.' 'But, Anne,' I said, 'do you know that this man is a roué and a gambler?' 'To-morrow,' she repeated, burying her face again in my hands." ”

“ Midway across the room he turned. "Anne, you have said you would die if you could not pay what you owe. You cost the woman whom you call mother pain and blood and tears—do not forget to pay that debt—it is a debt of honor." ”

“ I warrant you she does not know what they mean. Think what a fascination exists in things which we do not understand."
Raoul, walking to and fro on the gravel, stopped abruptly.
"And you wish Monsieur de Balloy to teach Anne the meaning of these words," he exclaimed scornfully.
"My dear friend," replied M. de Sade, "you have not asked me what I wish. But ask madame if there exists a woman who would not prefer to learn from experience what she might learn with less trouble from the dictionary. If you ask my opinion—"
"Yes, we ask it," said Madame de Wimpffen, observing him closely. ”

“ She raised her hand. "No promises, I beg of you. One can do everything with promises but rely upon them." And before he could reply she had vanished through the portières.
M. de Sade took up his hat and cane, glanced once more at the desk by the window, the open book, the figurines on the glass shelves of the cabinet, at the still swaying portières. No, it was not an illusion—he held the two notes in his hand. ”

“ As a man of the world he made light of all expansions of the heart—while secretly cherishing one. During the pauses of the service Madame de Balloy had confided to him that she had the day before asked on behalf of her son the hand of Anne—and Anne was the daughter of Madame de Wimpffen. ”

“ Just within the ivy screen, at the little table laid for breakfast near the foot of the steps leading to the salon windows, M. de Wimpffen was reading "Le Matin." That he was waiting for something more important than breakfast was evident from the glances he directed toward these windows. His orderly had gone for the morning mail. There was also the Abbé d'Arlot, whom Madame de Wimpffen had persuaded to visit her and who might arrive at any moment from Freyr. ”

“ But I have something serious to say to you, and when I have a serious thought in my head I have no peace till its ghost is laid."
"Monsieur," the little figure replied in a business-like manner foreign to Dresden shepherdesses, "I give you fifteen minutes to lay your ghost, for I also have a serious matter in hand. At half-past two I have an appointment at Drécoll's for a last fitting."
"Let us, then, come quickly to the point," said M. de Sade, sitting down beside the morocco-bound "Causeries." "But first I must confess to you that I am an ambassador without credentials. ”