"Nothing. No, nothing!"
She commenced to laugh, calling his attention to the end of the path, to a broader alley which brought them back to the edge of the lake, whose blue line they saw in the distance.
"Blue on blue," she said, pointing to the sky and the water. "You reproach me for not liking blue, Monsieur le Ministre, see! I am taking an azure bath. This horizon is superb, is it not?"
Vaudrey debated with himself if she were jesting. Why should she give him that title which here and at such a moment, had such an out-of-place ring?
She glanced at him sidelong with a little droll expression, her pretty mouth yielding to a smile that enticed a kiss.
"We shall soon have returned to my carriage," she said. "Already!"
"That already pleases me," said Sulpice.
"It is true. This short promenade is nothing, but it suffices to make one forget many things."
"Does it not?" exclaimed Vaudrey.
The shadow of his coupé was still projected between them along the ochre-colored road.