“I’ve told you before, Duco. I don’t consider him a cad. And I don’t believe he is one either. He asked us to dine with him this evening, quite quietly.”
“No, I don’t care about it.”
She said nothing. She stood up, boiled some water on a spirit-stand and made tea:
“Duco dear, I’ve been careless about lunch. A cup of tea and some bread-and-butter is all I can give you. Are you very hungry?”
“No,” he said, evasively.
She hummed a tune while she poured out the tea into an antique cup. She cut the bread-and-butter and brought it to him on the sofa. Then she sat down beside him, with her own cup in her hand.
“Cornélie, hadn’t we better lunch at the osteria?”
She laughed and showed him her empty purse:
“Here are the stamps,” she said.
Disheartened, he flung himself back on the cushions.