By asking to be made known to M. Saniette,
Swann made M. Verdurin reverse the usual form of introduction (saying, in
fact, with emphasis on the distinction: "M. Swann, pray let me present to
you our friend Saniette") but he aroused in Saniette himself a warmth of
gratitude, which, however, the Verdurins never disclosed to Swann, since
Saniette rather annoyed them, and they did not feel bound to provide him
with friends. On the other hand the Verdurins were extremely touched by
Swann's next request, for he felt that he must ask to be introduced to the
pianist's aunt. She wore a black dress, as was her invariable custom, for
she believed that a woman always looked well in black, and that nothing
could be more distinguished; but her face was exceedingly red, as it
always was for some time after a meal. She bowed to Swann with deference,
but drew herself up again with great dignity. As she was entirely
uneducated, and was afraid of making mistakes in grammar and
pronunciation, she used purposely to speak in an indistinct and garbling
manner, thinking that if she should make a slip it would be so buried in
the surrounding confusion that no one could be certain whether she had
actually made it or not; with the result that her talk was a sort of
continuous, blurred expectoration, out of which would emerge, at rare
intervals, those sounds and syllables of which she felt positive.
Pages:
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393