During the journey they could hardly speak, as the carriage was full,
and when they got to Maison-Laffitte they went towards the Seine. The
sun, which shone full onto the river, onto the leaves and onto the turf
seemed to be reflected in them in his brightness, and they went, hand
in hand, along the bank, looking at the shoals of little fish swimming
near the bank, and they went on brimming over with happiness, as if they
were raised from the earth in their lightness of heart.

At last she said: "How foolish you must think me!"

"Why?" he asked. "To come out like this, all alone with you?" "Certainly
not; it is quite natural." "No, no; it is not natural for me--because I
do not wish to commit a fault, and yet this is how girls fall. But if
you only knew how wretched it is, every day the same thing, every day in
the month, and every month in the year. I live quite alone with Mamma,
and as she has had a great deal of trouble, she is not very cheerful. I
do the best I can, and try to laugh in spite of everything, but I do not
always succeed. But all the same, it was wrong in me to come, though
you, at any rate, will not be sorry."

By way of an answer he kissed her ardently on her ear that was nearest
him, but she moved from him with an abrupt movement, and getting
suddenly angry, she exclaimed: "Oh! Monsieur François, after what you
swore to me!" And they went back to Maison-Laffitte.

They had lunch at the _Petit-Havre_, a low house, buried under four
enormous poplar trees, by the side of the river. The air, the heat, the
light wine, and the sensation of being so close together, made them red
and silent, with a feeling of oppression, but after the coffee, they