“I repeat your words. Think of her face, her innocent eyes. She would not meet you.”
Marcel was thoughtful for a few moments.
“You are right,” he agreed. “Let us think no more about it I will go away without seeing her again.”
He made no other complaint, but the simplicity of his words touched his friend’s heart and although he thought it would certainly be better for him to go away without seeing her, he knew Marcel was so unhappy that he tried to think of some way to help him.
“Look here,” he said. “Leave it to me, I will tell you at the proper time, and you shall see her again.”
“How will you manage it?” asked Marcel rather uneasily.
“She shall meet you without having been told. It will be your business to keep her.”
Tired of discussing a serious topic so long, Jean assumed a lighter tone.
“Heavens, it will serve them right! De Marthenay irritates me, and the Dulaurenses are such awful snobs! It isn’t perhaps quite the correct thing, but it is just, and I am delighted to be able to pay them back.” Already he was thinking of a plan which would be simple and easy to carry out.
“You wanted to see my mother?” said Marcel. “Let us go back to the house.”