“To make you happy, darling,” he concluded somewhat caressingly, to alleviate the solemnity of the words.
“Ah!” she exclaimed, without further observation.
“Then you give me my first certificate, my wife? Have you been happy or not on your travels? Have I done everything to make you happy?”
“You have done as much as you could,” she replied, without emphasising the words.
“That is all?” he insisted, looking at her.
“All you could.”
He frowned, and was silent. She, too, was silent, turning her head away. An instant afterwards, with a fastidious accent, he added—
“Now I am a little tired, and am glad to return home.”
The train ran on through the country that leads to Susa, and from Susa to Turin.
“Have you written to your mother and sister that we are returning?” he asked absently.