Page:The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux.pdf/173



presence and the courteous attentions of Monsieur de T soon dissipated any lingering sadness that Manon may have felt.

"Let us forget all our past troubles, dear heart," I said to her on my return, "and begin a new life of greater happiness than we have ever known. Love is a kind master, after all. The pleasures which he gives us more than outweigh all the trials that Fortune can send."

Our supper was a scene of perfect joy. I was prouder and happier with Manon and my hundred pistoles than the richest Partisan of Paris amid his heaps of gold.

The true way in which to estimate our wealth is by the means we possess of gratifying our desires. I had not one that was unsatisfied. Even the future gave me little anxiety. I felt almost sure that my father would make no difficulty about giving me money enough to live comfortably at Paris, as, being then in my twentieth year, I