She chose this solution in the first days of July. Gerald promised that he would join her there at the beginning of September, which was the time set for Chambannes’ return from Bosnia. Zozé was to leave on the 20th with her Aunt and Uncle Panhias. Moreover, she would not be left altogether alone, since the abbé Touronde was in the neighborhood and the Herschsteins and Silberschmidts also.
“And, after all,” Gerald remarked, “a month is only four weeks.... And four weeks are very quickly over.”
Mme. Chambannes agreed. His nonchalance brought a grimace of contempt and a tremor to her lips, but her pride made her attempt to smile.
Then came the following Thursday when, without saying anything about Gerald, she informed M. Raindal of her preparations.
“Ah!” he stammered, blinking, his eyes so full of sorrow and so imploring that Zozé felt at once moved by it.... “Ah! you are going to Les Frettes?... Oh, very well ...!”
“What about you, dear master?” said she. “What will you do with your summer?”
“I?”
He tried to remember, but his mind would not work. At last it came back to him, and he replied:
“I?... We?... We are going to Langrune, as we do every year.... How long are you going to stay at Les Frettes?”
“Oh, a month, two months perhaps, maybe three.... It all depends on Georg business.”