"The little jade, in turn, pretended to love me, until, at last, I
altogether lost my head, and three months later I married her.

"What can you expect, Monsieur, when a man is a clerk, living alone,
without any relations, or anyone to advise him? One says to oneself: 'How
sweet life would be with a wife!'

"And so one gets married, and she calls you names from morning till
night, understands nothing, knows nothing, chatters continually, sings
the song of _Musette_ at the top of her voice (oh! that song of
_Musette_, how tired one gets of it!); quarrels with the charcoal dealer,
tells the porter of all her domestic details, confides all the secrets of
her bedroom to the neighbor's servant, discusses her husband with the
trades-people, and has her head so stuffed with such stupid stories, with
such idiotic superstitions, with such extraordinary ideas and such
monstrous prejudices, that I--for what I have said, applies more
particularly to myself--shed tears of discouragement every time I
talked to her."

He stopped, as he was rather out of breath, and very much moved, and I
looked at him, for I felt pity for this poor, artless devil, and I was
just going to give him some sort of answer, when the boat stopped. We
were at Saint-Cloud.

The little woman who had so taken my fancy, got up in order to land. She
passed close to me, and gave me a side glance and a furtive smile; one of
those smiles that drive you mad; then she jumped on the landing-stage.
I sprang forward to follow her, but my neighbor laid hold of my arm, I
shook myself loose, however, whereupon he seized the skirt of my coat,
and pulled me back, exclaiming: