Nice Girls Carry Protection

Julien has invited himself into his lady's boudoir by the expedient of posting a 25-foot ladder to her window. Now he has to figure out what to do with the ladder:

"You mustn't break the windows," Mathilde answered, trying in vain to adopt the tone of ordinary conversation. "You could possibly lower the ladder, I think, by tying a rope to the top rung. I've always plenty of ropes in my room."

--Stendhal, Scarlet and Black 349 (Margaret Shaw trans. 1953)