JК
The Real Life of Sebastian Knight :: Набоков Владимир Владимирович
Страница: 94 из 124How long have you known her?'
'Oh, I haven't seen much of her these last years until this one – she travels a lot, you know – but we used to go to the same school – here in Paris. Her father was a Russian painter, I believe. She was still very young when she married that fool.'
'What fool?' I queried.
'Well, her husband, of course. Most husbands are fools, but that one was hors concours. It didn't last long, happily. Have one of mine.' She handed me her lighter too. The bulldog growled in its sleep. She moved and curled up on the sofa, making room for me. 'You don't seem to know much about women, do you?' she asked, stroking her own heel.
'I'm only interested in one,' I answered.
'And how old are you?' she went on. 'Twenty-eight? Have I guessed? No? Oh, well, then you're older than me. But no matter. What was I telling you?… I know a few things about her – what she told me herself and what I have picked up. The only man she really loved was a married man and that was before her marriage, and she was a mere slip of a girl then, mind you – and he got tired of her or something. She had a few affairs after that, but it didn't much matter really. Un coeur de femme ne ressuscite jamais. Then there was one story which she told me in full – it was rather a sad one.'
She laughed. Her teeth were a little too large for her small pale mouth.
'You look as if my friend were your own sweetheart,' she said teasingly. 'By the way, I wanted to ask you how did you come to this address – I mean, what led you to look up Helene?'
I told her about the four addresses I had obtained in Blauberg. I mentioned the names,
'That's superb,' she cried, 'that's what I call energy! Voyez vous зa! And you went to Berlin? She was a Jewess? Adorable! And you have found the others too?'
'I saw one,' I said, 'and that was enough,'
'Which?' she asked with a spasm of uncontrollable mirth. 'Which? The Rechnoy woman?'
'No,' I said, 'Her husband has married again, and she has vanished,'
'You are charming, charming,' said Madame Lecerf, wiping her eyes and rippling with new laughter, 'I can see you crashing in and being confronted by an innocent couple, Oh, I never heard anything so funny, Did his wife throw you downstairs, or what?'
'Let us drop the matter,' I said rather curtly, I had had enough of that girl's merriment.
'Oh, I haven't seen much of her these last years until this one – she travels a lot, you know – but we used to go to the same school – here in Paris. Her father was a Russian painter, I believe. She was still very young when she married that fool.'
'What fool?' I queried.
'Well, her husband, of course. Most husbands are fools, but that one was hors concours. It didn't last long, happily. Have one of mine.' She handed me her lighter too. The bulldog growled in its sleep. She moved and curled up on the sofa, making room for me. 'You don't seem to know much about women, do you?' she asked, stroking her own heel.
'I'm only interested in one,' I answered.
'And how old are you?' she went on. 'Twenty-eight? Have I guessed? No? Oh, well, then you're older than me. But no matter. What was I telling you?… I know a few things about her – what she told me herself and what I have picked up. The only man she really loved was a married man and that was before her marriage, and she was a mere slip of a girl then, mind you – and he got tired of her or something. She had a few affairs after that, but it didn't much matter really. Un coeur de femme ne ressuscite jamais. Then there was one story which she told me in full – it was rather a sad one.'
She laughed. Her teeth were a little too large for her small pale mouth.
'You look as if my friend were your own sweetheart,' she said teasingly. 'By the way, I wanted to ask you how did you come to this address – I mean, what led you to look up Helene?'
I told her about the four addresses I had obtained in Blauberg. I mentioned the names,
'That's superb,' she cried, 'that's what I call energy! Voyez vous зa! And you went to Berlin? She was a Jewess? Adorable! And you have found the others too?'
'I saw one,' I said, 'and that was enough,'
'Which?' she asked with a spasm of uncontrollable mirth. 'Which? The Rechnoy woman?'
'No,' I said, 'Her husband has married again, and she has vanished,'
'You are charming, charming,' said Madame Lecerf, wiping her eyes and rippling with new laughter, 'I can see you crashing in and being confronted by an innocent couple, Oh, I never heard anything so funny, Did his wife throw you downstairs, or what?'
'Let us drop the matter,' I said rather curtly, I had had enough of that girl's merriment.