Had he often passed by La Mignotte?
It was behind this hill then?
There ought to be lots of trees there, eh?
And the house could one see it at a distance?
The little old man answered with a succession of grunts.

Down in the calash Nana was almost dancing with impatience, while Zoe, in her annoyance at having left Paris in such a hurry, sat stiffly sulking beside her.

The horse suddenly stopped short, and the young woman thought they had reached their destination.

She put her head out of the carriage door and asked: "Are we there, eh ?" By way of answer the driver whipped up his horse, which was in the act of painfully climbing a hill.

Nana gazed ecstatically at the vast plain beneath the gray sky where great clouds were banked up.
"Oh, do look, Zoe! There's greenery! Now, is that all wheat?
Good lord, how pretty it is!" "One can quite see that Madame doesn't come from the country," was the servant's prim and tardy rejoinder.