When Newman took leave, Urbain de Bellegarde accompanied him, as he always did, just three steps down the staircase.

At the bottom stood a servant with his overcoat.

He had just put it on when he saw Madame de Cintre coming towards him across the vestibule.
"Shall you be at home on Friday ?" Newman asked.
She looked at him a moment before answering his question.

"You don't like my mother and my brother," she said.
He hesitated a moment, and then he said softly, "No." She laid her hand on the balustrade and prepared to ascend the stairs, fixing her eyes on the first step.
"Yes, I shall be at home on Friday," and she passed up the wide dusky staircase.
On the Friday, as soon as he came in, she asked him to please to tell her why he disliked her family.
"Dislike your family ?" he exclaimed.

"That has a horrid sound.