"'Why no, child, and I'm afraid you'll find the house very empty. If only I'd known you were coming I most certainly should have invited your cousins.'
"'Oh, I'm so glad you didn't! I much prefer being alone with you.'
"He came and went in the house, but never could be persuaded to go outside the yard. I should have loved to have taken him with me and shown his War Cross to some of my old friends. But he wouldn't hear of it.
"'Pooh!' he would laugh when I would suggest such a thing. 'If ever they come near me I'll tell them I've got "trench pest"—and then you'll see them clear out.'
"He went down in the kitchen and I'd hear him pottering around. I never knew him so gay and happy.
"'Tante Rose, I'm going to sing you "La Madelon" and the "Refrain de la Mitraille." It was Planchet, the tinsmith, who composed it!'
"He'd sit for hours in that big blue armchair, blinking at the fire, and then suddenly he'd come to earth and explain:
"'Aunt Rose, what a pleasure to be here.'
"When finally he had to go back, he caught me and whispered in my ear, as I kissed him:
"'Next time, Tante, you promise me not to invite any one, won't you?'