Swann had gone forward into the room, under pressure from Mme. de Saint-Euverte and in order to listen to an aria from Orfeo which was being rendered on the flute, and had taken up a position in a corner from which, unfortunately, his horizon was bounded by two ladies of 'uncertain' age, seated side by side, the Marquise de Cambremer and the Vicomtesse de Franquetot, who, because they were cousins, used to spend their time at parties in wandering through the rooms, each clutching her bag and followed by her daughter, hunting for one another like people at a railway station, and could never be at rest until they had reserved, by marking them with their fans or handkerchiefs, two adjacent chairs; Mme.
Swann, Saint-Euverte etxekoandrearen hisikamenduari men eginez, aurre aldera joana zen eta, flautista bat jokatzen ari zèn Orphée-ko aria bat entzutearren, txoko batean ere kokatu non, zoritxarrez, bi dama jadanik adintsu baitzituen aurrez aurreko ikuskari bakar, bata bestearen ondoan eseriak, Cambremer-eko markesa bata eta Franquetot-eko bizkondesa bestea, elkarren artean lehengusinak ere ba omen ziren-eta, jaialdi guztietan, nork bere zorroa garraio eta biek ala biek alabak segizio, elkarren bila pasatzen zutenak denbora guztia, tren-geltoki batean bezalaxe, atsedenik ere apenas hartu gabe, harik eta haizemailez nahiz paineluz elkarren ondo-ondoko toki-parea markatzen zuten arte: