The love, the pity, the admiration of which the lad's heart had been full an hour before, still hungered for expression; but it was not easy to vent such feelings before Louis, nor at a moment when the Syndic's cold eye and the puzzle of his presence there chilled for the time the atmosphere of the room.
Claude, indeed, was utterly perplexed by what he had seen; and before he could decide what he would do, Anne, ignoring the need of explanation, had taken the matter into her own hands.

She had begun to set out the meal; and Louis, smiling maliciously, had seated himself in his place.
To speak with any effect then, or to find words adequate to the feelings that had moved him a while before, was impossible.

A moment later, the opportunity was gone.
"You must please to wait on yourselves," the girl said wearily.

"My mother is not well, and I may not come down again this evening." As she spoke, she lifted from the table the little tray which she had prepared.
He was in time to open the door for her; and even then, had she glanced at him, his eyes must have told her much, perhaps enough.

But she did not look at him.