'YOU got here almost as quickly as we did，'said Prudence.
'Yes，'I replied mechanically.'Where's Marguerite？'
'In her apartment.'
'By herself？'
'With Monsieur de G.'
I strode up and down in her drawing-room.
'Whatever's the matter with you？'
'Do you imagine I think it's funny waiting around like this for Monsieur de G to come out of Marguerite's？'
'You're being unreasonable too.You must understand that Marguerite can't show the Count the door.Monsieur de G has been with her a long time now；he's always given her a lot of money.He still does.Marguerite spends more than a hundred thousand francs a year；she has huge debts.The Duke sends her whatever she asks him for，but she doesn't always dare ask for everything she needs.She can't afford to fall out with the Count who gives her around ten thousand francs a year at least.Marguerite really loves you，my dear，but your affair with her mustn't get serious both for her sake and yours.Your allowance of seven or eight thousand francs wouldn't be anything like enough to pay for her extravagance；it won't even run to the upkeep of her carriage.Just take Marguerite for what she is-a good-hearted，lively，pretty girl.Be her lover for a month，two months.Give her flowers，buy her sweets，pay for boxes at the theatre.But don't go getting any other ideas，and don't go in for silly jealous scenes.You know what sort of girl you're dealing with：Marguerite's no saint.She likes you，you love her，leave it at that.I think you're foolish to get so touchy！You have the sweetest mistress in the whole of Paris！She receives you in a magnificent apartment，she's covered in diamonds，she needn't cost you a penny unless you decide otherwise，and you're still not satisfied.Hang it all，you expect too much！'
'You're quite right，but I can't help it.The thought that this man is her lover is agony.'
'To begin with，'Prudence went on，is he still her lover？He's just a man that she needs，that's all.
For two days now，she's closed her door to him.He came this morning.She had no alternative：she had to accept the tickets for the box and say he could escort her.He brought her home，he came up for a moment，but won't stay，or otherwise you wouldn't be waiting here.All very natural，as I see it.Anyhow，you don't mind the Duke？'
'No，but he's an old man，and I'm sure Marguerite isn't his mistress.In any case，a man can often put up with one affair，but not two.Even so，the ease with which he tolerates such an arrangement can look suspiciously calculating.It brings anyone who submits to it，even if he does so out of love，very close to people just one step beneath who make a business out of submitting and a profit out of their business.'
Ah，dear man！How behind the times you are！How many times have I seen the noblest，the most fashionable，the wealthiest men do what I now advise，and they have done it without fuss or shame or remorse！It happens every day of the week.How do you imagine all the kept women in Paris could carry on living the kind of lives they lead if they didn't have three of four lovers at the same time？There isn't a man around，however much money he had，who'd be rich enough to cover the expenses of a woman like Marguerite by himself.A private income of five hundred thousand francs is a colossal fortune in France；well，dear man，a private income of five hundred thousand francs wouldn't do it，and here's why.A man who has an income like that has an established household，horses，servants，carriages，hunting estates，friends；often he is married，he has children，he keeps a racing stable，he gambles，travels and a lot more besides.All these habits are so firmly rooted that he cannot drop them without appearing to be ruined and becoming the talk of the town.All in all，with five hundred thousand francs a year，he can't give a woman more than forty or fifty thousand in any twelve months，and even that's a great deal.So other lovers must make up the woman's annual expenditure.With Marguerite，it works out even more conveniently.By a miracle of heaven，she's got in with a rich old man worth ten millions whose wife and daughter are both dead and whose surviving relatives are nephews with a lot of money of their own.He gives her everything she wants without asking anything in exchange.But she can't ask him for more than seventy thousand francs a year，and I'm sure that if she did，then in spite of all his money and his affection for her，he would say no.
All those young men in Paris with incomes of twenty or thirty thousand francs，that is with barely enough to get by in the circles they move in，are all quite aware，when they are the lovers of a woman like Marguerite，that their mistress couldn't even pay the rent or her servants on what they give her.They don't ever say that they know.They just appear not to see anything and，when they've had enough，they move on.If they are vain enough to want to provide for everything，they ruin themselves like idiots，and go off to get themselves killed in Africa，leaving a hundred thousand francs'worth of debts in Paris.And do you imagine that the woman is grateful？Not a bit of it.The very opposite.She'll say that she sacrificed her position for them，and that as long as she was with them she was losing money.Ah！all these dealings strike you as shameful，don't they？But it's all true.You are a nice boy and I couldn't be fonder of you.I've lived among women like these for twenty years，and I know what they're like and what sort of stuff they're made of.I wouldn't want to see you taking to heart a caprice which some pretty girl has for you.
