He sat down, but soon rose again. He went to the window; he came back to the fire.
"Hortense!"
"Mon frère?"
"This little parlour looks very clean and pleasant—unusually bright, somehow."
"It is true, brother; I have had the whole house thoroughly and scrupulously cleaned in your absence."
"Sister, I think on this first day of your return home you ought to have a friend or so to tea, if it were only to see how fresh and spruce you have made the little place."
"True, brother. If it were not late I might send for Miss Mann."
"So you might; but it really is too late to disturb that good lady, and the evening is much too cold for her to come out."
"How thoughtful in you, dear Gérard! We must put it off till another day."
"I want some one to-day, dear sister—some quiet guest, who would tire neither of us."