The next he had clasped it between his own, and she made no effort to release it.
"I cannot do without you, Francoise," he cried.

"I am the loneliest man in all this world, like one who lives on a great mountain-peak, with none to bear him company.

Who have I for a friend?
Whom can I rely upon?
Some are for the Church; some are for their families; most are for themselves.

But who of them all is single-minded?
You are my better self, Francoise; you are my guardian angel.

What the good father says is true, and the nearer I am to you the further am I from all that is evil.