"Seventeen years old, soon," added Jacques.
"That is a fine age for us," added the bailiff, exchanging an intelligent glance with Jacques, who said rudely to his son:
"Good evening."
Marie and Frederick retired, leaving Jacques Bastien and his comrade Bridou at the table.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
WHEN Madame Bastien and Frederick, coming out of the dining-room, passed by the library, they saw David there, standing in the door watching for them.
Marie extended her hand to him cordially, and said, making allusion to the two outrages to which the preceptor had so patiently submitted:
"Can you still have the same devotion to us?"
A loud noise of moving chairs and bursts of laughter from the dining-room informed the young woman that her husband and the bailiff were rising from the table. She hastened to her apartment with Frederick, after having said to David, with a look of despair:
"To-morrow morning, M. David. I am now in unspeakable agony."