I did not choose to stop at your house, for all sorts of reasons, nor at my grandmother's, who, however, insisted very kindly upon our doing so: "'Oh! mon Dieu! my dear children--that must not be--in a hotel! why, that is not proper.

You cannot remain in a hotel! come and stay with me.

mon Dieu! you'll be very uncomfortable.

You'll be camping out, as it were.

I don't even know how I'll manage to give you anything to eat, for my cook is sick abed, and that stupid coachman of mine, by the way, has a stye on his eye! But why not let people know you were coming?
You fall upon me like two flower-pots from a window! It's incredible! You are in good health, my friend?
I need not ask you.