Chapter 34

Obviously I was not rich. If I had been, there would have been quickly gathered around me a group to offer entertainment as well as treasures to buy; but it was clear I had little money, so that was out of the question. There are other things by which the French label you, a woman particularly—charm, beauty, chic, _l’esprit_, seriousness, capacity to work, intelligence, _bonté_. Those with whom I had dealings for any length of time hit perfectly on my chief asset. I was a worker. “A _femme travailleuse_,” they said…