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THE CONFESSION OF A FOOL 209
wrath for having been found wanting in courtesy towards
the "poor child."
Not satisfied with having estranged Marie from husband
and child—the baby was boarded out with a neighbour,
a termagant of forty-five years of age—the fair friend
demoralised the cook ; the consumption of beer rose to the
almost incredible quantity of five hundred bottles a
month ; my cook sat in the kitchen intoxicated, fast
asleep ; the food was wasted.
The fair friend was a mangeuse (Vhommes, and I was
her prey.
One day Marie showed me a cloak which she said she
wanted to buy. I disapproved of colour and cut, and
advised her to choose another. The friend, who happened
to be present, kept it for herself, and I forgot all about
it. Two weeks later I received a bill for a cloak bought
by my wife. I inquired into the matter and found that
Marie had lent herself to a trick well known by the
theatrical demi-monde.
As usual, she was furious with me when I asked her
to break off her connection with the adventuress. . . .
And things grew worse and worse.
A few days later Marie, trying to work on my feelings,
posing as the submissive wife, asked me, quite humbly,
whether I had any objection to her chaperoning the " poor
child " on a visit to an old friend of her late father’s,
whom she intended to ask for a loan. The request struck
me as so strange that it set me thinking, especially when
I took into account her friend’s bad reputation. I
implored Marie, for our child’s sake, to open her eyes,
to rouse herself from the trance in which she seemed to
live, and which would surely end with her complete ruin
—
her only reply was a repetition of her old phrase :
’*
Your
base imagination. ..."
And still matters declined,
p
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