“I do know.”
In the same vexed tone, Mme. Raindal went on:
“Oh! mon Dieu, mon Dieu!... I do hope these Chambannes will bring him into no danger!... Tell me, you ... do you think you could say something to him?...
“Say what to him?”
“Tell him ... tell him ... to take care, for instance, not to entangle himself too deeply.... Dear, you know better than I do how to speak to him.... You are ... you are better friends!”
With this veiled reproach the old lady complained unwittingly of her isolation, of her life-long relegation with her God, and her fears moved the heart of Thérèse.
“Listen!” she said more affectionately.... “Listen to me, mother! I assure you that there is as yet no danger.... Therefore, do worry before there is any need to.... And if yol believe me, let us meet father with pleasant faces; we must tease him.... I know him; we would only succeed in pushing him still deeper into the intimacy of those people.”
“And later?...”
“Later?... we shall see. We shall discuss it together and find out what is best under the circumstances.”
“Then you are willing that I should talk with you now and then about....”