"You have proved it, monsieur." "What are you going to do when you leave me?" "Go back to my mother." "That is quite right; but suppose she still refuses to let you in?" "I will try to find work; I will go out to service, if I must; perhaps I shall be able to get in somewhere." "Undoubtedly; but who can say what sort of people you will encounter, and what hands you will fall into? Young and pretty as you are, you will find it harder than others might to get a suitable place, if, as I assume, you mean to remain virtuous." "Oh! indeed I do mean to remain virtuous, monsieur." "I know what men are; they are almost all libertines; marriage puts no curb on their passions. Wherever you take service, your masters will make you some unequivocal proposals, and will maltreat you if you reject them." "Then I will leave the house; I'll hire myself out to a single lady." "Old maids are exacting, and keep their young servants in close confinement, for fear that they may walk the streets and make acquaintances. Young women receive much company, and will set you a dangerous example." "How good you talk this morning!" "Don't wonder at that; a drunkard is a connoisseur in wine, a welcher in horses, a painter in pictures, a libertine in methods of seduction. For the very reason that I am not virtuous, I am better able than another to warn you of the risks you are about to run. Experience teaches. You did not yield to me, and I desire to preserve you for the future. Don't be grateful to me for it; very likely, it is simply a matter of self-esteem on my part, for I feel that it would be distressing to me to see the profanation of a flower that I have failed to pluck. You understand me, don't you, Nicette?" "Yes, yes, monsieur! I'm no prude, and I know what you mean! But don't be afraid! How could I give another what I refused you?" She said this with evident feeling and sincerity. Clearly she liked me; I could not doubt it; she was all the more praiseworthy for having resisted me. "After all, my dear girl, I don't see why you shouldn't continue to sell flowers; it is better suited to you than domestic service." "That is true, monsieur, but----" "I understand you. Here, Nicette, take this purse; you may accept it without a blush, for it is not the price of your dishonor. I am simply doing you a favor, lending you a little money, if you like that better." "Oh! monsieur, money--from a young man! What will people think of that?" "You must not say from whom you got it." "When a girl suddenly has money in her possession, people think, they imagine that----" "Let the gossips chatter, and force them to hold their tongues by the way you behave." "My mother----" "A mother who refuses to support her child has no right to demand an account of her actions." "But this purse--you are giving me too much, monsieur."