Pickwick Abroad; or, The Tour in France — page 91: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

738 PICKWICK ABROAD. Mr. Tupman was already drinking deep draughts from the intoxicat- ing fountain of love, when the respectable Marchioness suddenly re- collected ‘‘ that she had not given out the plate to be cleaned for din- ner at seven o’clock,” and left the room ‘‘ only for one moment,” as she informed her daughter in a tolerably loud whisper. Mr. Tupman was now in Elysium itself. He twisted his features into a pleasing variety of contortions, to accomplish as many different sorts of agreeable smiles—he employed all the stars, moons, Venuses, and Cupids that ever were created or Imagined, to embellish his dis- course—and as his language became the more impassioned, so it grew the less intelligible. He descanted on love at first sight—made a lengthy oration on circumstances often throwing together two beings that were intended for each other from their births—talked an entire folio on the folly of supposing that disparity of ages could be a pre- ventive to happiness—pronounced a lexicon of arguments to demon- strate the fact that men of mature age generally make the best hus- bands-—and concluded with a dictionary of comments on the expe- diency of prompt determination, and the unmitigated folly of delay in matters so essentially connected with the felicity of a couple of imdi- viduals during the term of their natural lives. Fortunately for Mr. Tupman, the “‘ only one moment” of the Mar- chicness was a good hour and a half; or else he never would have had time to propound, explain, and demonstrate so many theories and hypotheses as he effectually brought to a most satisfactory conclusion on this eventful day. And, in order to do ample justice to the patience of the French, and adduce another argument in favour of their being deemed the most polite people in the world, we must not omit to state that Mademoiselle de Volage assented to every thing uttered by Mr. Tupman, and listened with evident pleasure to the highly com- prehensible and logical positions advanced by that gentleman. At length Madame la Marquise de Volage dd return to the room where she had left her daughter to entertain Mr, Tupman, and Mr. Tupman to pay compliments to her daughter, and her daughter and Mr. Tupman to amuse each other to the utmost of their power; and the respectable relict of the late Peer of France expressed her astonish- ment at the celerity with which time glided away ; and then recollected that she had a small party—a petite soirée or réunton—that evening ; and concluded by ‘“* provoking’ Mr. Tupman to be present, if he had nothing Letter to do, at half-past nine o'clock. Of course Mr. Tup- man had uv other engagement; so he gratefully accepted the invita- tion, and then made his bow—or in other terms, retired, much pleased with the aci:iaintances he had formed, madly in love with Anastasie de Volage, and not without a shrewd suspicion that he had made some impression upon the young charmer herself. And to the eternal honour of M:. Tupman be it stated, that, as he descended the five flights of stairs which led from the airy apartments of the Marchioness to the street, it never once struck him whether, in his te¢e-d-tete with the beautiful Anastasie, he had not rendered himself as ridiculous as possible. But great minds disregard trifles like these, and illustri- ous individuals are frequently the least accessible to the whisperings of that most vulgar, ungenteel, and plebeian sense, very justly and appropriately designated by the title of Common Sense. Eomichbooks.ecom