"If you fancy that your absence enlivens us you're mistaken," he replied.

"Marie, who is usually so well and happy, had such a bad headache on the day before yesterday that she was obliged to keep her room.

And she was ill at ease and nervous and silent again yesterday.

We spent a very unpleasant day." As he spoke Guillaume looked Pierre well in the face, his frank loyal eyes clearly revealing the suspicions which had come to him, but which he would not express in words.
Pierre, quite dismayed by the news of Marie's indisposition, and frightened by the idea of betraying his secret, thereupon managed to tell a lie.

"Yes, she wasn't very well on the day when we went cycling," he quietly responded.