Page:Horrid Mysteries Volume 3.djvu/191

 phlegm did not suffer me to venture farther. The fervour of the first evening had been damped by the serenade; and I should have been vexed to death at our foolish frolic, if I had not been diverted by the cares attending my culinary and domestic employment.

It was, at bottom, nothing but kindness for the Count that prompted me to await patiently the conclusion of our whimsical farce; for love appeared to me, at that time, to be nothing else but an occupation fit only for idle people. The work I had on my hand quickened the circulation of my blood, enlivened my ideas, and rendered them more healthy, which enabled me to improve considerably, in that situation, in the true philosophy of life.

Unfortunately, our pleasure did not last much longer. The hamlet was too far remote from the high-road than that its inhabitants could have attained a great knowledge of the gallantry of the nation.