--Presume then to-day. Have you not told me that you were my friend?...
Yes. Well then, place yourself there. Tell me, Veronica, what is your age?

--Mine, Monsieur le Curé. What a question! I am not too old; come, not so
old as you think. I am forty.

--Forty! why you are still of an age to get married.

--I quite think so.

--And you have never intended to do so?

--To get married? Oh, upon my word, if I had wanted to do so, I should not
have waited until now.

--I believe you, Veronica. You could have done very well before now. But
you may have changed your ideas. Our characters, our tastes change with
time, and a thing displeases us to-day, which will please us to-morrow.
There are often, it is true, certain considerations which stop us and make
us reflect. Perhaps you have not a round enough sum. With a little money,
at your age, you could still make an excellent match.

--And even without money, Monsieur le Curé. If I were willing, somebody has
been pestering me for a long time for that.

--And you are not willing. The person doubtless does not suit you?

--Oh, I have my choice.