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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: the Marquise in bewilderment.
"Madame la Marquise," returned Nathan, "you do not know the value of
these 'precious' phrases; I am talking Sainte-Beuve, the new kind of
French.--I resume. Walking one day arm in arm with a friend along the
boulevard, he was accosted by a ferocious creditor, who inquired:
" 'Are you thinking of me, sir?'
" 'Not the least in the world,' answered the Count.
"Remark the difficulty of the position. Talleyrand, in similar
circumstances, had already replied, 'You are very inquisitive, my dear
fellow!' To imitate the inimitable great man was out of the question.
--La Palferine, generous as Buckingham, could not bear to be caught
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