of
her recalled to him Guermantes, a property close to Combray, and all
that country which he so dearly loved and had ceased to visit, so as not
to be separated from Odette. Slipping into the manner, half-artistic,
half-amorous--with which he could always manage to amuse the Princess--a
manner which came to him quite naturally whenever he dipped for a moment
into the old social atmosphere, and wishing also to express in words,
for his own satisfaction, the longing that he felt for the country:

"Ah!" he exclaimed, or rather intoned, in such a way as to be audible at
once to Mme. de Saint-Euverte, to whom he spoke, and to Mme. des Laumes,
for whom he was speaking, "Behold our charming Princess! See, she has
come up on purpose from Guermantes to hear Saint Francis preach to the
birds, and has only just had time, like a dear little tit-mouse, to go
and pick a few little hips and haws and put them in her hair; there are
even some drops of dew upon them still, a little of the hoar-frost
which must be making the Duchess, down there, shiver. It is very pretty
indeed, my dear Princess."

"What! The Princess came up on purpose from Guermantes? But that's too
wonderful! I never knew; I'm quite bewildered," Mme. de Saint-Euverte
protested with quaint simplicity, being but little accustomed to Swann's
way of speaking. And then, examining the Princess's headdress,
"Why, you're quite right; it is copied from... what shall I say, not
chestnuts, no,--oh, it's a delightful idea, but how can the Princess
have known what was going to be on my programme? The musicians didn't
tell me, even."

Swann, who was accustomed, when he was with a woman whom he had kept
up the habit of addressing in terms of gallantry, to pay her delicate
compliments which most other people would not and need not understand,
did not condescend to explain to Mme. de Saint-Euverte that he had
been speaking metaphorically. As for the Princess, she was in fits of
laughter, both because Swann's wit was highly appreciated by her set,
and because she could never hear a compliment addressed to herself
without finding it exquisitely subtle and irresistibly amusing.

"Indeed! I'm delighted, Charles, if my little hips and haws meet with
your approval. But tell me, why did you bow to that Cambremer person,
are you also her neighbour in the country?"

Mme. de Saint-Euverte, seeing that the Princess seemed quite happy
talking to Swann, had drifted away.

"But you are, yours