"Why so? would you like it to be on the floor again?"
"Oh! yes, because I might have the pleasure of looking for it. And then—and then——"
According to his custom, the young man failed to finish the sentence; but he heaved such a prodigious sigh that Madame Dubotté asked him with concern:
"Are you ill, Monsieur Callé?"
"Oh! no, madame; far from it!"
"Why do you sigh so deeply, then?"
"That is my way of being happy."
"Ah! that's curious. So you are very happy, are you?"
"Oh! yes, madame; I always am—when I am with you!"
He actually finished his sentence that time. Éléonore thanked him with a sweet smile; and during the last act she leaned much more frequently on the young man, whose knees served to transform her seat into an armchair.