"Yes.... I made a mistake," replied Philippe. "I thought ..."
He was leaning on the window-rail and looked out inertly at the large sort of park formed by the clustering trees and the undulating meadows of the Vosges. He was now obsessed by other thoughts, which mingled with his own anxiety. He went back to old Morestal:
"Are you quite sure that the arrest took place on French soil?"
"Upon my word, you must be mad!"
"It's possible that, without noticing it, you crossed the frontier-line...."
"Yes ... exactly ... so we did. But, at the moment of the first attack and again at the moment of the arrest, we were in France. There is no doubt about that."
"Just think, father, if there were the slightest doubt!..."
"Well, what then? What do you mean?"
"I mean that this incident will have further consequences. The affair will create a noise."