"Come, sit down!" she murmured, with a vague gesture.
He bent over her, and saw tears between her eyelashes.
"Are you suffering?" he asked.
"I feel a slight suffocation. I have a weight here, as if a ball were rising and falling."
She pointed to the centre of her chest. He said: "It is suffocating in this room. Make an effort, and get up. Let us go out. The air will do you good. Come!"
He rose, and held out his hands. She gave him hers, and let him raise her. When on her feet, she shook her head to throw back her hair, which was still untied. Then she bent down to search for her lost hairpins.
"Where can they be?"
"What are you looking for?"
"My hairpins."
"Let them be! You'll find them to-morrow."