"You seem absent-minded this morning.

Is anything worrying you ?" He glanced at her with a smile.

"No, nothing, I assure you," he replied.
"But I was thinking of our dear Marie, who was so glad to go off to the forest in this bright sunshine." Antoine, who heard the remark, raised his head, while his brothers remained absorbed in their work.

"What a pity it is that I had this block to finish," said he; "I would willingly have gone with her." "Oh, no matter," his father quietly rejoined.

"Pierre is with her, and he is very cautious." For another moment Mere-Grand continued scrutinising Guillaume; then she once more reverted to her sewing.
If she exercised such sway over the home and all its inmates, it was by reason of her long devotion, her intelligence, and the kindliness with which she ruled.