"
"Yes, a good daughter; but you will find her rather countrified," said
Charles Mignon.
"A country girl sought by the Duc d'Herouville," remarked Canalis,
dryly.
"Oh!" replied Monsieur Mignon, with the perfidious good-humor of a
Southerner, "I leave my daughter free. Dukes, princes, commoners,
--they are all the same to me, even men of genius. I shall make no
pledges, and whoever my Modeste chooses will be my son-in-law, or
rather my son," he added, looking at La Briere. "It could not be
otherwise. Madame de La Bastie is German. She has never adopted our
etiquette, and I let my two women lead me their own way. I have always
preferred to sit in the carriage rather than on the box. I can make a
joke of all this at present, for we have not yet seen the Duc
d'Herouville, and I do not believe in marriages arranged by proxy, any
more than I believe in choosing my daughter's husband."
"That declaration is equally encouraging and discouraging to two young
men who are searching for the philosopher's stone of happiness in
marriage," said Canalis.
"Don't you consider it useful, necessary, and even politic to
stipulate for perfect freedom of action for parents, daughters, and
suitors?" asked Charles Mignon.
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