"Yes, Mademoiselle; he married the widow of the Doges of Venice."
"Is it possible; how old is she?"
"She is as old as the world, and as everlasting."
"Do not mock me; I am a poor, foolish girl, and I do not understand your
European pleasantries."
"In other words, Mademoiselle, he is wedded to the sea; it is he who
commands the American boat, 'The Fancy,' stationed here."
She thanked me with such a flash of radiant joy passing over her face,
that her ugliness was eclipsed, and I thought she looked absolutely
pretty.