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if they choose,' I answered snappishly, 'you know quite well that I never piqued myself either on my good looks or upon my conquests.'
"'No, it is true, still to-day you are like the dog in the manger, for what is it to you whether the women are taken up with him or not, especially if it is such a help to him in his career?'
"'But cannot an artist rise to eminence by his talent alone?'
"'Sometimes,' added she with an incredulous smile, 'though seldom, and only with that superhuman perseverance which gifted persons often lack, and Teleny—'
"My mother did not finish her phrase in words, but the expression of her face, and above all of the corners of her mouth, revealed her thoughts.
"'And you think that this young man is such a degraded being as to allow himself to be kept by a woman, like a—'
"'Well, it is not exactly being kept—at least, he would not consider it in that light. He might, moreover, allow himself to be helped in a thousand ways otherwise than by money, but his piano would be his gagne-pain.'
