Did you sleep well in your old room ?" Then without waiting for her reply she turned to Estelle: "And this little one, has she had a nap too?
Give me a kiss, my child." They had taken their seats in the vast dining room, the windows of which looked out on the park.

But they only occupied one end of the long table, where they sat somewhat crowded together for company's sake.
Sabine, in high good spirits, dwelt on various childish memories which had been stirred up within her--memories of months passed at Les Fondettes, of long walks, of a tumble into one of the tanks on a summer evening, of an old romance of chivalry discovered by her on the top of a cupboard and read during the winter before fires made of vine branches.
And Georges, who had not seen the countess for some months, thought there was something curious about her.

Her face seemed changed, somehow, while, on the other hand, that stick of an Estelle seemed more insignificant and dumb and awkward than ever.
While such simple fare as cutlets and boiled eggs was being discussed by the company, Mme Hugon, as became a good housekeeper, launched out into complaints.

The butchers, she said, were becoming impossible.

She bought everything at Orleans, and yet they never brought her the pieces she asked for.