had been expected in the next room for some event of extreme importance,
and went into the drawing-room, happy at having nothing to fear. He
glanced at the newspaper, went and looked out of the window, and then sat
down again, when the door opened, and the boy came in, washed, brushed,
and smiling. Parent took him up in his arms and kissed him passionately;
then he tossed him into the air, and held him up to the ceiling, but soon
sat down again, as he was tired with all his exertion. Then, taking
George on his knee, he made him ride a-cock-horse. The child laughed and
clapped his hands and shouted with pleasure, as did his father, who
laughed until his big stomach shook, for it amused him almost more than
it did the child.

Parent loved him with all the heart of a weak, resigned, ill-used man. He
loved him with mad bursts of affection, with caresses and with all the
bashful tenderness which was hidden in him, and which had never found an
outlet, even at the early period of his married life, for his wife had
always shown herself cold and reserved.

Just then Julie came to the door, with a pale face and glistening eyes,
and said in a voice which trembled with exasperation: "It is half-past
seven, monsieur."

Parent gave an uneasy and resigned look at the clock and replied: "Yes,
it certainly is half-past seven."

"Well, my dinner is quite ready now."

Seeing the storm which was coming, he tried to turn it aside. "But did
you not tell me when I came in that it would not be ready before eight?"