She went back to the edge of the road, there was not a soul in sight, as far as the eye could reach. Some one rang the bell for her at the kitchen door. Perhaps the lamp would have to be lit that evening, she thought. Indeed, this rather haggard-looking girl felt she was living in as deep a silence as her deaf companion, who sat motionless with her hands crossed before her on the table-cloth. * * * * * But what would Bernard make of this vague world, Bernard who belonged to the blind and ruthless race of men who know their own minds? As soon as she began, Thérèse thought, he would break in with: “Well, why did you marry me, then? I wasn’t running after you.” It was certainly true that he had shown no signs of impatience. Thérèse remembered that Bernard’s mother, Madame Victor de la Trave, used to unburden herself to the casual visitor somewhat as follows: “He was quite ready to wait, but she would have him. No, she’s not _quite_ all we could wish, I’m sorry to say: for instance, she smokes far too much,--just a pose, of course. But she’s a good girl and absolutely straightforward: and we shall soon put a few wholesome ideas into her head. Of course, there _are_ disadvantages about the marriage. Yes, her grandmother Bellade,--I know all about it, but that’s all forgotten now, isn’t it? Indeed it wasn’t really a scandal, it was so carefully hushed up. Do you believe in heredity? The father has no religion, of course, but he has always set her an excellent example: a saint in a tweed suit, so it seems. Besides, he’s a most influential person and one needs all the help one can get in these days. There’s always something one has to ignore. And--strange as it may seem--she is richer than we are! And she worships Bernard, which is all to the good.” It was true,--she had worshipped Bernard: no attitude called for less effort on her part. As they sat in the drawing-room at Argelouse, or lay under the oak trees, she had only to look up at him with eyes that she knew so well how to fill with amorous innocence. Such a victim at his feet flattered the young gentleman but did not surprise him. “Don’t play with her,” his mother would say to him, “she’s eating her heart out.” “I married him because....”