He seems to look upon us
all as a joke."
He persuaded himself that the spring-time charm, which he could not go
down to Combray to enjoy, he would find at least on the He des Cygnes or
at Saint-Cloud. But as he could think only of Odette, he would return home
not knowing even if he had tasted the fragrance of the young leaves, or if
the moon had been shining. He would be welcomed by the little phrase from
the sonata, played in the garden on the restaurant piano. If there was
none in the garden, the Verdurins would have taken immense pains to have a
piano brought out either from a private room or from the restaurant
itself; not because Swann was now restored to favour; far from it. But the
idea of arranging an ingenious form of entertainment for some one, even
for some one whom they disliked, would stimulate them, during the time
spent in its preparation, to a momentary sense of cordiality and
affection. Now and then he would remind himself that another fine spring
evening was drawing to a close, and would force himself to notice the
trees and the sky. But the state of excitement into which Odette's
presence never failed to throw him, added to a feverish ailment which, for
some time now, had scarcely left him, robbed him of that sense of quiet
and comfort which is an indispensable background to the impressions that
we derive from nature.
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