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Rh "So I hope."

"But they won't come quite so much."

"Yes, Robinvast is rather far. But then who goes to the Louvre? A few artists, a few aimless foreign sightseers. Nobody in France takes an interest in art."

"Nobody in the world does," said M. Hervart, "except those who live by it."

"What about those who die of it?" asked Rose.

Mme Des Boys looked at her daughter with some surprise:

"I have never heard that painting was a dangerous industry."

"When one believes in it, it is," said M. Hervart.

"What, not dangerous?" said M. Des Boys. "What about white lead?"

"One must believe," said Rose, looking at M. Hervart.

"This just shows," M. Des Boys went on, "what the public's point of view in this matter is. My wife's marvellously absurd remark exactly represents their feelings."

There followed a series of pointless anecdotes on Mme Des Boys' habitual absence of