Page:The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux.pdf/71



a time my happiness appeared to be established on the firmest of foundations. Manon was all gentleness and affection. She lavished such tender attentions upon me that I felt myself more than repaid for all the sufferings which I had undergone.

As we had both of us gained some share of practical experience, we prudently discussed the extent of our resources. The sixty thousand francs, which formed the bulk of our little fortune, was not a sum that would last us all our lives; especially as we were not inclined to put over-much restraint upon our expenditure. Economy was not Manon's chief virtue, any more than it was my own.

The arrangement I proposed to myself was as follows: "Sixty thousand francs," as I said to her, "ought to be enough to support us for ten years. Two thousand crowns a year will be as much of an income as we shall need if we continue to live at Chaillot. We will adopt a genteel, but simple mode of life. Our only extravagances shall consist in keeping a coach, and visiting the theatres. We will lay down rules for ourselves. Thus, as you are fond of the Opera, we will go to hear it twice a week. As to cards we will limit ourselves at play so that our losses shall never exceed two pistoles. In the course of ten