Page 54 - Princess Belle-Etoile and Prince Cherie
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the third, wished to depart, and to say so. The
first maintained, that his was the surest way,
because the money the Corsair and his wife
made by combing them, would induce them
to retain them. The other replied, it would be
well to quit them, if they knew what place to
fix upon to go to, and what would be their
condition; but to be called vagrants in the
world was not an agreeable thing: the last
added, that it would be very ungrateful to
abandon their preservers, without their
consent; but that it would be equally stupid to
wish to remain longer with them in the
middle of a forest, where they could not learn
who they were; and that, therefore, the best
thing would be to speak to them, and make
them consent to their departure. They all
approved of this advice, and immediately
mounted their horses to seek the Corsair and
Corsine.
Cheri's heart was flattered by all that hope
could suggest most agreeable, to console an
afflicted lover; his love enabled him to divine
some portion of the future; he did not believe
he was Belle-Etoile's brother: his long-
constrained passion finding some little vent
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