They remained for a few moments locked in each other's embrace and the old lady's tears fell upon Philippe's cheeks.
At last, she said:
"You are not going at once, are you?"
"As soon as I have packed my bag."
"What a hurry you are in! Besides, there's no train yet. No, I want to kiss you once more and to make sure that you have all you want. And then it's impossible for you and Marthe to part like this. I will speak to her presently. But I must go to your father first: he may want me...."
He went with her as far as the sick man's room and, as she had taken from a cupboard a pile of towels that filled her arms, she said:
"Open the door for me, will you?"
Then he saw his father at the other end of the room, lying lifeless, very pale in the face, and Suzanne sitting at the foot of the bed. He clearly distinguished the red scratches on her cheeks and chin.
"Shut the door, Suzanne," said Mme. Morestal, when she was inside.
Suzanne did so. As she approached, she saw Philippe in the dusk of the passage. She did not make a movement nor give a start; and she closed the door upon him as though he had not been there.