And I know it now to be a distorted kind of virtue.
She was of a very different sort from that good tribe of the Moselle
valley beyond the hill; yet she also was Catholic - (she had a little
tree set up before her door for the Corpus Christi: see what religion
is, that makes people of utterly different races understand each
other; for when I saw that tree I knew precisely where I stood. So
once all we Europeans understood each other, but now we are divided by
the worst malignancies of nations and classes, and a man does not so
much love his own nation as hate his neighbours, and even the twilight
of chivalry is mixed up with a detestable patronage of the poor. But
as I was saying - ) she also was a Catholic, and I knew myself to be
with friends. She was moreover not exactly of - what shall I say? the
words Celtic and Latin mean nothing - not of those who delight in a
delicate manner; and her good heart prompted her to say, very loudly -
'What do you want?'
'I want a bed,' I said, and I pulled out a silver coin. 'I must lie
down at once.'
Then I added, 'Can you make omelettes?'
Now it is a curious thing, and one I will not dwell on -
LECTOR.
