As often as not, she sank down on a chair and sobbed for five minutes on end.

But afterward she would forget all about it, grow very merry, fill the little lodgings with the sound of song and laughter and the rapid rustle of skirts.

The worst of it was that Fontan was now in the habit of disappearing for the whole day and never returning home before midnight, for he was going to cafes and meeting his old friends again.

Nana bore with everything.

She was tremulous and caressing, her only fear being that she might never see him again if she reproached him.