"I shall be two next year," Gilberte declared.
They could be serious also. She asked him about his writing, wanted to read what he had printed. He refused, on the pretext that he was not satisfied. Nevertheless, he showed her a letter from the editor of an important review, a letter teeming with compliments.
He lent her his favorite books and she devoured them.
Mme. de la Vaudraye was in ecstasies. She was now certain that her dream would be realized. She was too clever to betray her delight and hid it under demonstrations of gratitude:
"How sweet of you, my dear Gilberte, to tame that wild savage! You will make quite a courtier of him."
And she added, with a sigh:
"Oh, if you could only turn him into a more attentive son and make him more
