days. ... There, I'll leave you in peace."
"You won't go out, will you, dear?"
"Go out? I, who have never left your side? Why, I should be afraid to walk down the street all by myself! I shall be back soon, dearest."
She opened the door and went downstairs. Above the reception-rooms, which occupied a wing consisting of a single floor, to the right of the garden, was a terrace covered with tents and wicker chairs. She sat down there.
It was a mild and balmy October day. The wide, deserted beach was bright with sunshine. The sea was very calm and edged with a narrow fringe of foam.
An hour passed.
"I will go in," she said, "when that little boat disappears behind the jetty."
The boat disappeared and she rose to her feet. As she went up the stairs, a childish idea came into her head, an idea which she was destined long to remember, together
