"All that you say is true—I have no right to be angry—and I am not any longer."
"But you are!"
"No, I am not."
"Why did you tell Pomponne that you would not come again?"
"Why—because—as you have a woman installed in your rooms now—I thought that my visits could only——"
"Upon my word, I can't understand you! Because a person comes to my rooms, a person who looks after my linen, takes it away and brings it back!—What has that to do with our friendship?"
"Is she the—the young woman in whom you took such a deep interest?"
"Yes, madame. She has lost her child, her little girl, who was her only joy! It seems to me that that is an additional reason for trying to lighten her sorrow."
"Oh! most assuredly! It seems, too, that you have done wonders for her, for she says everything good of you! she extols you to the skies! Never fear, my friend, she is truly grateful!"
"But that ought not to seem extraordinary to you, who maintain that ingratitude is the most shocking of vices."