They both laughed. They were thinking of Frau Vogel.
"Poor woman!" said Sabine; "how exhausting she is!"
"She is never exhausted," replied Christophe gloomily.
She was tickled by his manner and his jest.
"You think it amusing?" he asked. "That is easy for you. You are sheltered."
"So I am," said Sabine. "I lock myself in." She had a little soft laugh that hardly sounded. Christophe heard it with delight in the calm of the evening. He snuffed the fresh air luxuriously.
"Ah! It is good to be silent!" he said, stretching his limbs.
"And talking is no use!" said she.
"Yes," returned Christophe, "we understand each other so well!"
They relapsed into silence. In the darkness they could not see each other.
They were both smiling.