“The old man has come, Irinel. What then? He will dine with us? All the better. We shall be a bigger party at table.”
Was it I speaking? There were only she and I in the garden.
“The old man has come, has come. Alas!” she replied, covering her eyes with both her hands. “The old man has come and some one is going to leave this house! He has——”
Irinel began to cry.
“What has he?”
“A son who is an engineer.”
“Engineer? Has he learnt engineering?”
“Yes, he has learnt engineering!” Irinel replied angrily, and uncovered her crimson cheeks. “Yes, he has learnt en-gi-neer-ing, and some one is going to leave this house!”
I watched how she stood in the doorway, and then crossed it lightly as she wiped away her tears on a clean corner of her gown. I looked long after her, then I threw myself face upwards under one of the fruit-trees.
Nature was full of life! The apple-trees bent their great boughs; the sparrows chattered, some of them were fluttering their wings, others were collecting into groups preparing for a fierce fight. Little patches of sunlight played upon my face. When I felt two rows of tears trickling into my ears, I jumped to my feet, I gazed towards the door, and said gently, full of a profound melancholy: