We talked for a quarter of an hour. And then I said to myself: Allons-y.
I said to her:
'"Mademoiselle, I must tell you that I did not come here merely to give you a box of chocolates."
'She smiled and remarked that evidently I must have had reasons to come to Geneva of more importance than that.
'"I came to ask you to do me the honour of marrying me."
She gave a start.
'"But, monsieur, you are mad," she said.
'"I beseech you not to answer till you have heard the facts," I interrupted, and before she could say another word I told her the whole story.
I told her about my advertisement in the Figaro and she laughed till the tears ran down her face.
Then I repeated my offer.
'"You are serious?" she asked.
'"I have never been more serious in my life."
'"I will not deny that your offer has come as a surprise.
I had not thought of marrying, I have passed the age; but evidently your offer is not one that a woman should refuse without consideration.
I am flattered.
Will you give me a few days to reflect?" '"Mademoiselle, I am absolutely desolated," I replied. "But I have not time.
If you will not marry me I must go back to Paris and resume my perusal of the fifteen or eighteen hundred letters that still await my attention."
'"It is quite evident that I cannot possibly give you an answer at once.
I had not set eyes on you a quarter of an hour ago.
I must consult my friends and my family."
'"What have they got to do with it?
You are of full age.
The matter is pressing.
I cannot wait.
I have told you everything.
You are an intelligent woman.
What can prolonged reflection add to the impulse of the moment?"
'"You are not asking me to say yes or no this very minute?
That is outrageous."
'"That is exactly what I am asking.
My train goes back to Paris in a couple of hours."
'She looked at me reflectively.
'"You are quite evidently a lunatic.
You ought to be shut up both for your own safety and that of the public."
'"Well, which is it to be?" I said.
"Yes or no?"
'She shrugged her shoulders.
'"Mon Dieu." She waited a minute and I was on tenterhooks.
"Yes."
The Governor waved his hand towards his wife.
'And there she is.
We were married in a fortnight and I became Governor of a colony.
I married a jewel, my dear sirs, a woman of the most charming character, one in a thousand, a woman of masculine intelligence and a feminine sensibility, an admirable woman.'
'But hold your tongue, mon ami,' his wife said.
'You are making me as ridiculous as yourself.'
He turned to the Belgian colonel.
'Are you a bachelor, mon colonel?
If so I strongly recommend you to go to Geneva.
It is a nest (une pГ©piniГЁre was the word he used) of the most adorable young women.
You will find a wife there as nowhere else.