Mrs. Hoze stood up. Dolf came to take her into the other room, for whist.
“You too, Cecile?” he asked.
“No, you know I never touch a card!”
He did not press her; there were Quaerts and the girls to make up.
“What are you doing there, Jules?” he asked, glancing across the piano.
The boy had remained sitting there, forgotten. He now rose and appeared, tall, grown out of his strength, with strange eyes.
“What were you doing?”
“I ... I was looking for something ... a piece of music.”
“Don’t sit moping like that, my boy!” growled Dolf, kindly, with his deep voice. “What’s become of those cards again, Amélie?”
“I don’t know,” said his wife, looking about vaguely. “Where are the cards, Anna?”