Page:The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux.pdf/182

186 I was, to the door of the dressing-room, which she pushed open with her knee, and thus presented me to the stranger, whom the noise, apparently, had brought to a stand-still in the middle of the room, a spectacle which must have caused him no little astonishment.

The man I saw before me was very richly dressed, but had a decidedly ill-favored face. Notwithstanding his embarrassment at the scene I have just described, he made a profound bow, but Manon did not allow him time to open his lips. Holding her looking-glass before his face, she said to him:

"There, sir, take a good look at yourself, and do me justice. You ask me for my love. Here is the man whom I love, and have sworn to love all my life. Make the comparison for yourself. If you think to rival him in my heart, pray tell me on what grounds; for I beg to assure you that, in the eyes of your humble servant, all the Princes of Italy together are not worth a single one of the hairs which I am now holding in my hand!"

During this madcap speech, which was evidently premeditated on her part, I was vainly struggling to free myself, for the sight of a man of his rank in such a position excited my compassion, and I was anxious to atone for this petty insult by my own courteous apologies.