Page:Crainquebille, Putois, Riquet and other profitable tales, 1915.djvu/135



ADEMOISELLE BERGERET was silent. She smiled, which was unusual.

"Why are you laughing, Zoé?" asked Monsieur Bergeret.

"I was thinking of Émile Vincent."

"What Zoé! You can think of that excellent man, whom we have just lost, whom we loved and whom we mourn, and you can laugh!"

"I laugh because I can see him again as he used to be, and the old memories are the strongest. But you should know, Lucien, that all smiles are not joyful any more than all tears are sorrowful. It takes an old maid to explain that."

"I am not unaware, Zoé, that laughter is the result of nervous agitation. Madame de Custine as she bade adieu in the prison to her husband condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal, was seized with a fit of uncontrollable laughter at the sight of a prisoner walking past her in  Rh