They ended by speaking.  A kind of rapid intimacy had become established between them, a daily intimacy of half an hour, and that was certainly one of the most charming half hours in his life, to him.  He thought of her all the rest of the time, saw her continually during the long office hours, for he was haunted and bewitched by that floating and yet tenacious recollection which the image of a beloved woman leaves in us, and it seemed to him that the entire possession of that little person would be maddening happiness to him, almost above human realization.

Every morning now she shook hands with him, and he preserved the feeling of that touch, and the recollection of the gentle pressure of her little fingers, until the next day, and he almost fancied that he preserved the imprint of it, on his skin, and he anxiously waited for this short omnibus ride, all the rest of the time, while Sundays seemed to him heart-breaking days.  However, there was no doubt that she loved him, for one Saturday, in spring, she promised to go and lunch with him at Maisons-Laffitte the next day.

II

She was at the railway station first, which surprised him, but she said:  “Before going, I want to speak to you.  We have twenty minutes, and that is more than I shall take for what I have to say.”

She trembled as she hung onto his arm, and she looked down, while her cheeks were pale, but she continued:  “I do not want to be deceived in you, and I shall not go there with you, unless you promise, unless you swear ... not to do ... not to do anything ... that is at all improper ...”

She had suddenly become as red as a poppy, and said no more.  He did not know what to reply, for he was happy and disappointed at the same time.  At the bottom of his heart, he perhaps preferred that it should be so, and yet ... yet during the night he had indulged in anticipations that sent the hot blood flowing through his veins.  He should love her less, certainly, if he knew that her conduct was light, but then it would be so charming, so delicious for him!  And he made all a man’s usual selfish calculations in love affairs.

As he did not say anything, she began to speak again in an agitated voice, and with tears in her eyes.  “If you do not promise to respect me altogether, I shall return home.”  And so he squeezed her arm tenderly and replied:  “I promise, you shall only do what you like.”  She appeared relieved in mind, and asked with a smile:  “Do you really mean it?” And he looked into her eyes and replied:  “I swear it.”  “Now you may take the tickets,” she said.

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.