“Why do you not see people?” she asked brusquely. “Why do you shut yourself up all alone in this beautiful place?”
“I come here for rest.”
“But even in Paris or London or Berlin you shun society?”
“I do not care for it.”
“What a pity!”
“Do you think so?”
“Certainly I do. No one should live alone who is not old and blind and poor.”
He smiled slightly.
“If one were old and blind and poor, one would be probably left alone, malgré soi.”
“Ah, you are a pessimist! I am not. I think the world very delightful and people very good.”