"She has the tastes of all women; and wealth, luxury and power give joys which not one of them despises."
"Yes, Geneviève does. And you would do much better . . ."
"We shall see. For the moment, let me go my own way. And be quite easy. I have not the least intention, as you say, of mixing her up in any of my manœuvers. She will hardly ever see me. . . . Only, we had to come into contact, you know. . . . That's done. . . . Good-bye."
He left the school and walked to where his motor-car was waiting for him. He was perfectly happy:
"She is charming . . . and so gentle, so grave! Her mother's eyes, eyes that soften you . . . Heavens, how long ago that all is! And what a delightful recollection! A little sad, but so delightful!" And he said, aloud, "Certainly I shall look after her happiness! And that at once! This very evening! That's it, this very evening she shall have a sweetheart! Is not love the essential condition of any young girl's happiness?"
He found his car on the high-road:
"Home," he said to Octave.
When Sernine reached home, he rang up Neuilly and telephoned his instructions to the friend whom he called the doctor. Then he dressed, dined at the Rue Cambon Club, spent an hour at the opera and got into his car again:
"Go to Neuilly, Octave. We are going to fetch the doctor. What's the time?"