His
gestures, his loquacity, his innocent self-assertion, proclaimed the
provincial lawyer. These slight defects were, however, superficial; he
redeemed them by an exquisite kind-heartedness which a rigid moralist
might call the indulgence natural to superiority. He looked a little
like a fox, and he was thought to be very wily, but never false or
dishonest. His wiliness was perspicacity; and consisted in foreseeing
results and protecting himself and others from the traps set for them.
He loved whist, a game known to the captain and the doctor, and which
the abbe learned to play in a very short time.
This little circle of friends made for itself an oasis in Mironet's
salon. The doctor of Nemours, who was not without education and
knowledge of the world, and who greatly respected Minoret as an honor
to the profession, came there sometimes; but his duties and also his
fatigue (which obliged him to go to bed early and to be up early)
prevented his being as assiduously present as the three other friends.
This intercourse of five superior men, the only ones in Nemours who
had sufficiently wide knowledge to understand each other, explains old
Minoret's aversion to his relatives; if he were compelled to leave
them his money, at least he need not admit them to his society.
Pages:
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66