“No, no, let us set out immediately, and we will pass, beside her, the rest of the day; M. de Berville will, I know, excuse us.”
“Impossible!” answered Leopoldine, “go out, so hot as it is! it would be wilfully to seek a coup de soleil, which would make us perfect blacks for the rest of the summer.”
“We can shield ourselves with a veil—with our parasols——”
“I should not feel myself safe in a sack; and for nothing in this world would I leave this house till the day is over.”
“You forget, Leopoldine, with what courage Madame Rével came from her house alone, on foot, in the middle of a December night, in spite of the frost and the snow, to attend you when you had the measles, because they told her you had expressed a wish to see her instantly.”
“Well, sister, I would sooner confront a cold north wind than the sun.”
“The heat can no more be stopped than the cold, Leopoldine.”
“Nothing is so frightful as a black skin.”
“Sister, though I knew I should become as black as an African, I would not leave our friend without consolation at such a time; I will go with our servant girl; believe me, you will hereafter be sorry you did not follow my example.”
“Permit me to accompany you, Miss,” said M. de Berville, taking his hat.