Maurice Renaud, Jean Perliez and Genevieve Hardouin were invited by
the Darbois to spend their vacation at the farm of Penhouet. Their
arrival at the Gare d'Orsay was a complete surprise to Esperance, who
threw herself on her father's neck, sobbing with pleasure.
He chided her gently, "Daughter, are you going to break your word to
the Doctor?"
So she at once began to laugh in the midst of her tears.
"No, papa dear, only I have not yet begun to keep it. The cure will
only commence with my first day in the long chair on the seashore. So
you see I can still cry a little in gratitude for all your
thoughtfulness."
The trip was gay, thanks to Maurice's nonsense. Modern painter,
cosmopolitan, elegant, and cultivated gentleman, he could still become
frolicsome and frivolous with nonsense in happy company.
M. Darbois, ordinarily so quiet, laughed at his antics till the tears
came, while Mme. Darbois smiled that pleasant smile that had first
long ago appealed to Francois's heart. As to Mlle. Frahender, the
artist's wit fairly made her dizzy. As at Brussels, she soon gave up
trying to follow him, for at the moment when she thought she had
caught the trend of his humour he had already branched off into
another anecdote, this time serious, and her laugh would come too
late. So she tried to read the names of the little stations flying
past, but the speed of the train was so great that, like Maurice's
anecdotes, she only got as far as the first syllable.
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