A rustic seat under a large oak seemed to have been placed there expressly for those who came to seek solitude and speak of love.

From there, one could see the approach of danger, and, in case of alarm, the wood offered a secure retreat.

The young man had had enough experience in gallant strategies to seize the advantage of this position, and wended his steps in that direction while continuing to converse.

It may be that instinct which, in a critical situation, makes us follow mechanically an unknown impulse; it may be that the same idea of prudence had also struck her, for Madame de Bergenheim walked beside him.
"If you could understand what I suffered," said he, "when I found that you had left Paris! I could not discover at first where you had gone; some spoke of Corandeuil, others of Italy.

I thought, from this hasty departure and the care you took to conceal your abiding-place, that you were fleeing from me.