Mallet," said Christina, "and when you
've discovered something, let us hear. But I must tell you that I shall
not willingly believe in any remedy of yours, for you have something in
your physiognomy that particularly provokes me to make the remarks that
my mother so sincerely deplores. I noticed it the first time I saw you.
I think it 's because your face is so broad. For some reason or other,
broad faces exasperate me; they fill me with a kind of rabbia. Last
summer, at Carlsbad, there was an Austrian count, with enormous estates
and some great office at court. He was very attentive--seriously so; he
was really very far gone. Cela ne tenait qu' a moi! But I could n't; he
was impossible! He must have measured, from ear to ear, at least a yard
and a half. And he was blond, too, which made it worse--as blond as
Stenterello; pure fleece! So I said to him frankly, 'Many thanks, Herr
Graf; your uniform is magnificent, but your face is too fat.'"
"I am afraid that mine also," said Rowland, with a smile, "seems just
now to have assumed an unpardonable latitude."
"Oh, I take it you know very well that we are looking for a husband,
and that none but tremendous swells need apply.
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