Note: Translated by an unknown hand. This translation begins: ""Go on; I am listening." "I have the honour to ask you for your daughter's hand." "Alice?" "Yes. My request seems to surprise you. Perhaps you will forgive me if I have some difficulty understanding why it appears so strange. I am twenty-six years old; my name is Victor Cyprien; I am a mining engineer, and left the Polytechnic as second on the list. My family is honest and respected, if it is not rich.""