“Oh, Désiré, do not leave me! I am very ill—not so very ill, but still—— Oh, what will become of you should I die—and Dodor? Is he in the cage? I have not heard him move.”
“I will be back soon,” said Toto, “and Dodor is all right.”
“But I have not heard him move.”
He lifted the parrot cage, and held it up to show that the bird was safe, and Dodor spread his wings like a little eagle, as if indignant that anyone should touch his house but Célestin. She glanced at him as if satisfied.
“Does it rain?”
“I hear the sound of rain—do not get wet. You will return?”
“Very soon.”
He did not know what he was saying; it was like a conversation in a dream. Then he left her and took his hat, and left the atelier leaning on Gaillard’s arm, whilst Garnier sat on the couch and mused.
“I must leave Paris at once—I must leave Paris at once!” burst out Toto when they were in the Rue de Perpignan. “I must leave it forever; nothing like this ever happened to anyone before. My God! I am going mad. It is like one of those dreams when we seem to be walking about the streets naked. Did you see that fool De Harnac’s face, and Valfray looking all round with his eyeglass?”