The things we do!

"Madame de Florac and my father talked about my profession. The Countess
said it was a belle carriere. The Colonel said it was better than the
army. 'Ah oui, monsieur,' says she very sadly. And then he said, 'that
presently I should very likely come to study at Paris, when he knew there
would be a kind friend to watch over son garcon.'
"'But you will be here to watch over him yourself, mon ami?' says the
French lady.
"Father shook his head. 'I shall very probably have to go back to India,'
he said. 'My furlough is expired. I am now taking my extra leave. If I
can get my promotion, I need not return. Without that I cannot afford to
live in Europe. But my absence in all probability will be but very
short,' he said. 'And Clive is old enough now to go on without me.'
"Is this the reason why father has been so gloomy for some months past? I
thought it might have been some of my follies which made him
uncomfortable; and you know I have been trying my best to amend--I have
not half such a tailor's bill this year as last.


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