Experiences like this teach prudence.So when our excellent friend M.Lerins sends me a present of a beautiful soul, it is natural that I should unpack it with caution, and that before I install this beautiful soul in my house, I should seek to know what is inside of it.A beautiful soul!" he repeated, in a less ironical but harsher tone, "by dint of pondering upon it, I divine to be a soul which has a passion for the trumpery of sentiment.In this case, sir, suffer me to give you a piece of advice.Madame Leminof had a great fancy for Chinese ornaments, and she filled her parlors with them.Unfortunately, I am a little brusque, and it happened more than once that I overturned her tables laden with porcelain and other gewgaws.You can judge how well she liked it! My dear sir, be prudent, shut up your Chinese ornaments carefully in your closets, and carry the keys.""I thank you for the advice," answered Gilbert gently; "but I am distressed to see that you have received a very false idea of me.
Will you permit me to describe myself as I am?""I have no objection," said he.
"To begin then 'I am not a beautiful soul,' I am simply a good soul, or if you like it better, an honest fellow who takes things as they come and men as they are; who prides himself upon nothing, pretends to nothing, and who cares not a straw what others think of him.I do not deny that in my early youth I was subject, like others, to what a man of wit has called 'the witchery of nonsense;'