He moved away a step or two in the sand, came back, and went on with an effort:
“Within a few minutes the porter of the monastery came through the archway of the arcade followed by a young man. As I looked up at him I was uncertain of his nationality. But I scarcely thought about it—except in the first moment. For something else seized my attention—the intense, active misery in the stranger’s face. He looked ravaged, eaten by grief. I said he was young—perhaps twenty-six or twenty-seven. His face was rather dark-complexioned, with small, good features. He had thick brown hair, and his eyes shone with intelligence, with an intelligence that was almost painful—somehow. His eyes always looked to me as if they were seeing too much, had always seen too much. There was a restlessness in the swiftness of their observation. One could not conceive of them closed in sleep. An activity that must surely be eternal blazed in them.
“The porter left the stranger in the archway. It was now my duty to attend to him. I welcomed him in French. He took off his hat. When he did that I felt sure he was an Englishman—by the look of him bareheaded—and I told him that I spoke English as well as French. He answered that he was at home in French, but that he was English. We talked English. His entrance into the garden had entirely destroyed my sense of its peace—even my own peace was disturbed at once by his appearance.
“I felt that I was in the presence of a misery that was like a devouring element. Before we had time for more than a very few halting words the bell was rung by Francois.
“‘What’s that for, Father?’ the stranger said, with a start, which showed that his nerves were shattered.
“‘It is time for your meal,’ I answered.
“‘One must eat!’ he said. Then, as if conscious that he was behaving oddly, he added politely:
“‘I know you entertain us too well here, and have sometimes been rewarded with coarse ingratitude. Where do I go?’
“I showed him into the parlour. There was no one there that day. He sat at the long table.
“‘I am to eat alone?’ he asked.