Dorcas’s Reviews > The Romance of a Poor Young Man > Status Update

The bank on which he had jumped sloped sharply and was very wet. His feet had scarcely touched it when he fell backwards, grabbing some strong branches within his reach. He hung on to them desperately, his legs beating the shallow water like angry oars. As there was no danger, his situation became purely ridiculous, and this thought made him struggle so frantically and awkwardly that his efforts defeated their purpos

"Row away, Alain, " she said immediately; and old Alain, who prides himself on being a first rate oarsman, set to work steadily, the long oars moving to and fro at his sides, making him look like a heavy bird trying to fly.

Her eyes fixed on the trees that bordered the road and she asked with haughty irony, " Must I beg your pardon?" "Most certainly, Mademoiselle, " I replied firmly, " if either of us should ask pardon, it is you. You are rich. I am poor. You can humble yourself. I cannot."