"
And while Mme. Verdurin was saying to her husband, "Run and fetch him a
glass of orangeade; it's well earned!" Swann began to tell Odette how he
had fallen in love with that little phrase. When their hostess, who was a
little way off, called out, "Well! It looks to me as though some one was
saying nice things to you, Odette!" she replied, "Yes, very nice," and he
found her simplicity delightful. Then he asked for some information about
this Vinteuil; what else he had done, and at what period in his life he
had composed the sonata;--what meaning the little phrase could have had
for him, that was what Swann wanted most to know.
But none of these people who professed to admire this musician (when Swann
had said that the sonata was really charming Mme. Verdurin had exclaimed,
"I quite believe it! Charming, indeed! But you don't dare to confess that
you don't know Vinteuil's sonata; you have no right not to know it!"--and
the painter had gone on with, "Ah, yes, it's a very fine bit of work,
isn't it? Not, of course, if you want something 'obvious,' something
'popular,' but, I mean to say, it makes a very great impression on us
artists.
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