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shadow is leanness indeed. Hence Barkilphedro became famished. Then he
took up the character of a man of letters.
But he was thrust back even from the kitchens. Sometimes he knew not
where to sleep. "Who will give me shelter?" he would ask. He struggled
on. All that is interesting in patience in distress he possessed. He
had, besides, the talent of the termite--knowing how to bore a hole from
the bottom to the top. By dint of making use of the name of James II.,
of old memories, of fables of fidelity, of touching stories, he pierced
as far as the Duchess Josiana's heart.
Josiana took a liking to this man of poverty and wit, an interesting
combination. She presented him to Lord Dirry-Moir, gave him a shelter in
the servants' hall among her domestics, retained him in her household,
was kind to him, and sometimes even spoke to him. Barkilphedro felt
neither hunger nor cold again. Josiana addressed him in the second
person; it was the fashion for great ladies to do so to men of letters,
who allowed it. The Marquise de Mailly received Roy, whom she had never
seen before, in bed, and said to him, "C'est toi qui as fait l'Année
galante! Bonjour." Later on, the men of letters returned the custom. The
day came when Fabre d'Eglantine said to the Duchesse de Rohan, "N'est-tu
pas la Chabot?"
For Barkilphedro to be "thee'd" and "thou'd" was a success; he was
overjoyed by it. He had aspired to this contemptuous familiarity. "Lady
Josiana thees-and-thous me," he would say to himself. And he would rub
his hands. He profited by this theeing-and-thouing to make further way.
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