So, at least, he would assure and had no difficulty
in persuading the more subtle among his friends in the fashionable world,
notably the Baron de Charlus, whom he liked to amuse with stories of the
startling adventures that had befallen him, such as when he had met a
woman in the train, and had taken her home with him, before discovering
that she was the sister of a reigning monarch, in whose hands were
gathered, at that moment, all the threads of European politics, of which
he found himself kept informed in the most delightful fashion, or when, in
the complexity of circumstances, it depended upon the choice which the
Conclave was about to make whether he might or might not become the lover
of somebody's cook.
It was not only the brilliant phalanx of virtuous dowagers, generals and
academicians, to whom he was bound by such close ties, that Swann
compelled with so much cynicism to serve him as panders. All his friends
were accustomed to receive, from time to time, letters which called on
them for a word of recommendation or introduction, with a diplomatic
adroitness which, persisting throughout all his successive 'affairs' and
using different pretexts, revealed more glaringly than the clumsiest
indiscretion, a permanent trait in his character and an unvarying quest.
Pages:
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373