Monsieur Pierre’s acceptance of some knee-buckles, which had taken the country farmer’s fancy the day before, as he had been gazing into the shops, but which, being too small for his purpose, he took the liberty of offering to Monsieur Pierre.  Pierre, a French boy, inclined to foppery, was charmed, ravished by the beauty of the present and with monsieur’s goodness, and he began to adjust them to his breeches immediately, as well as he could, at least, in his mother’s absence.  The Norman, whom Pierre kept carefully on the outside of the threshold, stood by, as if amused at the boy’s eagerness.

“‘Take care,’ said he, clearly and distinctly; ’take care, my little friend, lest you become a fop; and, in that case, some day, years hence, when your heart is devoted to some young lady, she may be inclined to say to you’—­here he raised his voice—­’No, thank you; when I marry, I marry a man, not a petit-maitre; I marry a man, who, whatever his position may be, will add dignity to the human race by his virtues.’  Farther than that in his quotation Clement dared not go.  His sentiments (so much above the apparent occasion) met with applause from Pierre, who liked to contemplate himself in the light of a lover, even though it should be a rejected one, and who hailed the mention of the words ‘virtues’ and ‘dignity of the human race’ as belonging to the cant of a good citizen.

“But Clement was more anxious to know how the invisible Lady took his speech.  There was no sign at the time.  But when he returned at night, he heard a voice, low singing, behind Madame Babette, as she handed him his candle, the very air he had sung without effect for two nights past.  As if he had caught it up from her murmuring voice, he sang it loudly and clearly as he crossed the court.

“‘Here is our opera-singer!’ exclaimed Madame Babette.  ’Why, the Norman grazier sings like Boupre,’ naming a favourite singer at the neighbouring theatre.

“Pierre was struck by the remark, and quietly resolved to look after the Norman; but again, I believe, it was more because of his mother’s deposit of money than with any thought of Virginie.

“However, the next morning, to the wonder of both mother and son, Mademoiselle Cannes proposed, with much hesitation, to go out and make some little purchase for herself.  A month or two ago, this was what Madame Babette had been never weary of urging.  But now she was as much surprised as if she had expected Virginie to remain a prisoner in her rooms all the rest of her life.  I suppose she had hoped that her first time of quitting it would be when she left it for Monsieur Morin’s house as his wife.