La Dolciquita liked this reversion, and he passed the
night in her bed.
When the palpitating creature was at last asleep in his arms he
discovered that he was madly, was passionately, was
overwhelmingly in love with her. It was a passion that had arisen
like fire in dry corn. He could think of nothing else; he could live
for nothing else. But La Dolciquita was a reasonable creature
without an ounce of passion in her. She wanted a certain
satisfaction of her appetites and Edward had appealed to her the
night before. Now that was done with, and, quite coldly, she said
that she wanted money if he was to have any more of her. It was a
perfectly reasonable commercial transaction. She did not care two
buttons for Edward or for any man and he was asking her to risk a
very good situation with the Grand Duke. If Edward could put up
sufficient money to serve as a kind of insurance against accident
she was ready to like Edward for a time that would be covered, as
it were, by the policy. She was getting fifty thousand dollars a year
from her Grand Duke; Edward would have to pay a premium of
two years' hire for a month of her society. There would not be
much risk of the Grand Duke's finding it out and it was not certain
that he would give her the keys of the street if he did find out.
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