"Did she tell you so?"
(He corrected himself.)
"Did your mother tell you so?"
"Yes."
Christophe smiled pensively. He thought: "She too!… How they all loved him! Why did they not let him see it?…"
He went on:
"Why did you wait so long before you came?"
"I wanted to come sooner. But I thought you would not want to see me."
"I!"
"I saw you several weeks ago at the Chevillard concerts: I was with my mother, sitting a little away from you: I bowed to you: you looked through me, and frowned, and took no notice."