very kindly help me—if I were to come to my senses. But as miracles do not happen, I gave her little encouragement to hope."
"I see. I see. Did she say anything else?"
He was so peremptory that André-Louis turned to look at him.
"What else did you expect her to say, monsieur my godfather?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Then she fulfilled your expectations."
"Eh? Oh, a thousand devils, why can't you express yourself in a sensible manner that a plain man can understand without having to think about it?"
He sulked after that most of the way to the Rue du Hasard, or so it seemed to André-Louis. At least he sat silent, gloomily thoughtful to judge by his expression.
"You may come and see us soon again at Meudon," he told André-Louis at parting. "But please remember—no revolutionary politics in future, if we are to remain friends."
