Page:The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux.pdf/161

Rh she was—she did not know herself—when she beheld other women living in affluence, and found that she had to face poverty and want. I was on the eve of receiving a final proof of this fact, which was to eclipse all the former ones, and to result in the most surprising adventure that ever befell a man of my rank and fortune.

Knowing her disposition to be such as I have described I lost no time in starting for Paris on the morrow. The death of her brother, and the necessity of obtaining some linen and other clothes for her and myself, were such good reasons that I had no occasion to invent a pretext for going. I left the inn, telling Manon and the landlord that I intended taking a hackney-coach; but this, of course, was mere bravado on my part. As necessity compelled me to travel on foot, I walked very rapidly as far as the Cours-la-Reine, where I purposed resting for awhile. There was high need of my securing a few moments' solitude and quiet in order to collect my thoughts and to decide upon what I was to do in Paris. I seated myself upon the grass, and was soon immersed in a sea of reflections and speculations, which gradually grouped themselves under three main heads:

I had to obtain immediate assistance to enable me to provide for a host of present and pressing needs.

I had to settle upon a course of action that would, at