My Years With Proust - Day 367

There was still a long time to wait before Albertine appeared.  But the gaiety and the charm that she showed on this occasion dispelled my gloom.  She informed me (contrary to what she had said the other day) that she would be staying for the whole season and asked me whether we could not arrange, as in the former year, to meet daily.  I told her that at the moment I was too sad and that I would rather send for her from time to time at the last moment, as I did in Paris.  "If ever you're feeling gloomy or if you're in the mood, don't hesitate," she told me, "just send for me and I shall come at once, and if you're not afraid of its creating a scandal in the hotel, I shall stay as long as you like."  Francoise, in bringing her to me, had assumed the joyous air she wore whenever she had gone to some trouble on my behalf and had succeeded in giving me pleasure.  But her joy had nothing to do with Albertine herself, and the very next day she was to greet me with these penetrating words: "Monsieur ought not to see that young lady.  I know quite well the sort she is, she'll make you unhappy."

Marcel Proust, Cities of the Plain, pp. 815-816

The words of Francoise on Albertine are both interesting and insightful: "Monsieur ought not to see that young lady.  I know quite well the sort she is, she'll make you unhappy."  Now, of course, the question centers on "the sort" Albertine is.  Is Francoise simply commenting on the, to a more traditional generation, the views of the shocking behavior of the modern young woman, or is she also obliquely commenting on Albertine's "Gomorrhan" tendencies?  Having said all that, it might be better to turn our attention to what "sort" Marcel is.  He tells Albertine, "I was too sad and that I would rather send for her from time to time at the last moment as I did in Paris." I guess we could argue about whether he means a cup of coffee with a dear friend or an unmitigated booty call, although her response ("just send for me and I shall come and once, and if you're not afraid of its creating a scandal in the hotel, I shall stay as long as you like") seems to imply the latter.  Either way, it's a pretty selfish, inconsiderate way to treat another person, be they a dear friend or a sexual gymnastics partner.  In that way, maybe Marcel deserves all the unhappiness Francoise is predicting.