would have asked her hand; that he
would! How he had loved her, nevertheless, without respite, since the
first day he had set eyes on her!

He recalled, without emotion, all the times he had seen her, his grief on
leaving her, the many nights that he could not sleep, because of his
thinking of her.

In the mornings he always got up somewhat less amorous than in the
evening.

Why?

Seeing that she was formerly pretty, and "crumy," blonde, curl, joyous.
Saudres was not the man she would have selected. She was now fifty-two
years of age. She seemed happy. Ah! if she had only loved him in days
gone by; yes, if she had only loved him! And why should she not have
loved him, he, Savel, seeing that he loved her so much, yes, she, Madame
Saudres!

If only she could have divined something--Had she not divined anything,
had she not seen anything, never comprehended anything? But! Then what
would she have thought? If he had spoken what would she have answered?

And Savel asked himself a thousand other things. He reviewed his whole
life, seeking to grasp again a multitude of details.

He recalled all the long evenings spent at the house of Saudres, when the
latter's wife was young and so charming.

He recalled many things that she had said to him, the sweet intonations
of her voice, the little significant smiles that meant so much.

He recalled the walks that the three of them had had, along the banks of
the Seine, their lunches on the grass on the Sundays, for Saudres was
employed at the sub-prefecture. And all at once the distant recollection
came to him, of an afternoon spent with her in a little plantation on the
banks of the river.

They had set out in the morning, carrying their provisions in baskets.
It was a bright spring morning, one of those days which inebriate one.
Everything smelt fresh, everything seemed happy. The voices of the birds
sounded more joyous, and the flapping of their wings more rapid. They had
lunch on the grass, under the willow trees, quite close to the water,
which glittered in the sun's rays. The air was balmy, charged with the
odors of fresh vegetation; they had drunk the most delicious wines. How
pleasant everything was on that day!

After lunch, Saudres went to sleep on the broad of his back, "The best
nap he had in his life," said he, when he woke up.

Madame Saudres had taken the arm of Savel, and they had started to walk
along the river's bank.

She leaned tenderly on his arm.