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92 "Silly commonplace," he thought. "What answer will he make to that?"

"I don't dream," said Lanfranc, "I search. But I scarcely ever ﬁnd. Adventures have always disappointed me. That's why Paris is the only place for love affairs. One can ﬁnd plenty of pleasant romances there with only one chapter—the last."

"Your opinion of women ceases to astonish me then!"

"His opinion is very reasonable," said M. Des Boys. "You talk as though you were still twenty-ﬁve, Hervart."

He reddened a little.

"Me! Oh no, thank God! I'm forty."

And seeing the appropriateness of the occasion, he added:

"You're jealous of my liberty, but I am becoming afraid that I may lose it."

"Are you thinking of marriage?" asked Lanfranc.

"Perhaps."

"Mme Suif would suit you very well. Leonor is being coy about her...."

Irritated by so much vulgarity, M. Hervart got up and walked into the garden. Rose and Leonor were strolling there together.