Il vint il y a un an me proposer de fonder un hôpital pour gagner ce cordon ; je me moquai de lui, mais il ne s’est point moqué de moi quand je lui ai proposé un mariage ; ma première condition a été, bien entendu, que jamais il ne remettrait le pied dans Parme.
He came to me a year ago proposing to found a hospital, in order to get this Cordon; I laughed at him then, but he did not by any means laugh at me when I made him a proposal of marriage; my first condition was, you can understand, that he must never set foot again in Parma."