"
"I don't think she has very much to complain of, all the same," Francoise
would sigh grimly, for she had a tendency to regard as petty cash all that
my aunt might give her for herself or her children, and as treasure
riotously squandered on a pampered and ungrateful darling the little coins
slipped, Sunday by Sunday, into Eulalie's hand, but so discreetly passed
that Francoise never managed to see them. It was not that she wanted to
have for herself the money my aunt bestowed on Eulalie. She already
enjoyed a sufficiency of all that my aunt possessed, in the knowledge that
the wealth of the mistress automatically ennobled and glorified the maid
in the eyes of the world; and that she herself was conspicuous and worthy
to be praised throughout Combray, Jouy-le-Vicomte, and other cities of
men, on account of my aunt's many farms, her frequent and prolonged visits
from the Cure, and the astonishing number of bottles of Vichy water which
she consumed. Francoise was avaricious only for my aunt; had she had
control over my aunt's fortune (which would have more than satisfied her
highest ambition) she would have guarded it from the assaults of strangers
with a maternal ferocity.
Pages:
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205