He could not explore the idea
further, for a sudden access of that mental lethargy which was, with him,
congenital, intermittent and providential, happened, at that moment, to
extinguish every particle of light in his brain, as instantaneously as, at
a later period, when electric lighting had been everywhere installed, it
became possible, merely by fingering a switch, to cut off all the supply
of light from a house. His mind fumbled, for a moment, in the darkness,
he took off his spectacles, wiped the glasses, passed his hands over his
eyes, but saw no light until he found himself face to face with a wholly
different idea, the realisation that he must endeavour, in the coming
month, to send Odette six or seven thousand-franc notes instead of five,
simply as a surprise for her and to give her pleasure.
In the evening, when he did not stay at home until it was time to meet
Odette at the Verdurins', or rather at one of the open-air restaurants
which they liked to frequent in the Bois and especially at Saint-Cloud, he
would go to dine in one of those fashionable houses in which, at one time,
he had been a constant guest.
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