In the Mountains

by Elizabeth Von Arnim

Mrs. Antoine said nothing to that, but stepping aside to let me pass informed me rather severely that the coffee had been on the table a whole quarter of an hour.

'Comment appelle-t-on chez vous,' I said, lingering in the doorway to gain time, 'ce qui vient devant un évêque?'

'Ce qui vient devant un évêque?' repeated Mrs. Antoine doubtfully.

'Oui. L'espèce de monsieur qui n'est pas tout à fait évêque mais presque?'

Mrs. Antoine knit her brows. 'Ma foi—' she began.

'Oh, j'ai oublié,' I said. 'Vous n'êtes plus catholique. Il n'y a rien comme des évêques et comme les messieurs qui sont presque évêques dans votre église protestante, n'est-ce pas?'

'Mais rien, rien, rien,' asseverated Mrs. Antoine vehemently, her hands spread out, her shoulders up to her ears, passionately protesting the empty purity of her adopted church,—'mais rien du tout, du tout. Madame peut venir un dimanche voir....'

Then, having cleared off these imputations, she switched back to the coffee. 'Le café—Madame désire que j'en fasse encore? Ces dames et Monsieur l'Evêque—'

'Il n'est pas un év—'

'Ah—here you are!' exclaimed my uncle, his head appearing at the top of the stairs. 'I was just coming to see if there was anything the matter. Here she is—coming, coming!' he called out genially to the others; and on my hurrying to join him, for I am not one to struggle against the inevitable, he put his arm through mine and we went down together.