His heart
growled at the thought of it, and he felt ready to explode should his
passion be interfered with.
All at once, one evening, Constance kept him to dinner. And he suspected
that the hour of her revelations had come, on seeing how she quivered and
how erectly she carried her little figure, like a fighter henceforth
certain of victory. Nevertheless, although the servant left them alone
after bringing in at one journey the whole of the frugal repast, she did
not broach the great affair at table. She spoke of the factory and then
of Denis and his wife Marthe, whom she criticised, and she was even so
foolish as to declare that Hortense was badly behaved, ugly, and
destitute of grace. The accountant, like the coward he was, listened to
her, never daring to protest in spite of the irritation and rebellion of
his whole being.
"Well, we shall see," she said at last, "when one and all are put back
into their proper places."
Then she waited until they returned to the little drawing-room, and the
doors were shut behind them; and it was only then, near the fire, amid
the deep silence of the winter evening, that she spoke out on the subject
which she had at heart:
"As I think I have already told you, my friend, I have need of you.
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