He said:
"I begged your pardon: I could not help it…. You looked so unhappy."
"Well, what of it?" she said.
"It was too strong for me. If you saw a man drowning, wouldn't you hold out your hand to him?"
"I? Certainly not," she said. "I would push him under water, so as to get it over quickly."
She spoke with a mixture of bitterness and humor: and, when he looked at her in amazement, she laughed.
The train came in. It was full up, except for the last carriage. She got in. The porter told them to hurry up. Christophe, who had no mind to repeat the scene of a few days before, was for finding another compartment, but she said:
"Come in."
He got in, and she said:
"To-day I don't mind."