"Yes."
"I answered that I knew that perfectly well, but that all that was mere reasoning, and that when the heart remains young it does not listen to reason."
"I remember perfectly well! What then?"
"What then? Well, at present, I love Bijou! I love her with all my heart!"
"Absurd!" exclaimed the old lady, lifting her hands in amazement.
"You are certainly consoling!"
"Well, but—my poor, old friend, what do you want me to say? You do not expect to marry Bijou, do you?"
His eyes were moist, and his voice choked as he replied:
"No; I do not expect to! And yet, I beg you to tell your grand-daughter what I have just confessed to you. I am fifty-nine. I have twenty-four thousand pounds a year. I am neither a bad lot, nor am I utterly repulsive-looking, and I love her as no other man can love her."
"But only think that you are—"