"Yes, yes, you did notice that she left us to go and talk with that Monsieur de la Bérinière. Who is that man? wherever did she know him?"
"He was a friend of her husband, and in that way became acquainted with father."
"Is he rich?"
"He has forty thousand francs a year."
"Married?"
"No, he's an old bachelor; he asked father once for my hand."
"And you refused him?"
"Yes."
"You thought him too old, didn't you?"