"Your luggage?" she asked a little later, to break the awkward silence which was oppressing them.
Material details often serve to adjust a situation. She explained:
"Your room is there. You are to have mine."
"I am leaving immediately."
"So soon?"
But this protest did not express the joy she had felt in the mere prospect of keeping him, in little by little finding him changed. It was an unselfish complaint, which was based on concern for him:
"You will tire yourself."
Fanchette, who had finished clearing away the table and brushing off the crumbs, seconded this reflection like a distressing echo. Albert did not stir. He discontentedly withdrew into himself.
"When will you come back?" continued his mother, ready to content herself with the shortest space of time. "This summer?"
"It will be impossible."