Louis Couperus

“ Governesses are always better paid abroad than at home; so Marie Delestre, with a couple of certificates in her pocket, looked out for a situation in Germany, Russia, or America. As luck would have it, the agency to which she applied found her a position as governess in a half-Greek, half-Roumanian family, who lived at Bucharest and wanted a French teacher for their children, two boys of fifteen and fourteen and a girl of twelve. ”

“ She came from nowhere more remote than Paris and her maiden name was that of a respectable family of teachers, a family which, though middle-class, yet seemed to contain a heritage of intellect, for it had enriched mankind for years, if not for centuries, with tutors and governesses, even as another family will breed clergymen, a third give the preference to men of business, a fourth supply the military element, and a fifth play-actors, civil servants, hairdressers, sailors, or what not. ”

“ But Marie, after those mixed thoughts of hers, has made up her mind about what she will propose to Basile. Look at her: she is not a transatlantic millionairess, but she has a very pretty income. She is the last woman to make herself a nuisance to Prince Basile, but, if he consented to marry her and acknowledge their son, she would be prepared to give him a handsome allowance, an allowance big enough to enable him to vegetate in a bachelor's flat in Paris or at the hunting-box in Roumania—Prince Basile's only possession—until the health that has gone snap says "Snap!" ”