word said about their difference of the day before.
They saw each other every day. According to the weather, they walked in the town or walked about the neighbourhood, leaning on each other's arm and heedless of any but themselves. But they invariably returned at the same hour.
"Ah, it's five o'clock: here are the ladies coming back!" people said.
This regularity was due to Gilberte. As soon as she was free, she went to the ruined summer-house and sat there until dinner-time.
"But why this hurry?" asked Mme. de la Vaudraye. "You never give me a minute over."
"And what about my daily appointment?" said Gilberte, laughing.
"Your appointment?"
"Why, yes, with your son: what would he think of me if I were not punctual?"
In the course of a longer excursion than
