"'Have I got anything on édémy back, mademoiselle?'
"'No, monsieur, there's nothing on your back, but I want to talk with you; that's why I detained you. I was driven to resort to this method, because you always run away as soon as I am alone.'
"Gabriel looked at the floor, playing with a little bamboo cane that he usually carried. I invited him to sit down on a sofa beside me; he did so, but moved as far away from me as possible, and continued to keep his eyes averted, gazing sometimes at the ferrule and sometimes at the head of his stick.
"'Monsieur Gabriel,' I cried at last, irritated by his silence, 'haven't you anything to say to me? Do look at me, at least; before to-day, when you were not speaking, you always had your eyes on me; why, pray, do you gaze at your cane all the time to-day? Come, monsieur, look up, and tell me just what you're thinking about; and come a little nearer; anybody would think you were afraid of me, that I was scolding you.'
"Gabriel made up his mind at last to look at me and to move a little nearer. He was as red as a cherry. He acted like a schoolboy who is afraid of the birch; but he was such a handsome boy!
"'Monsieur,' I continued, 'I see that you don't dare to tell me what it is that makes you sigh so when you are with me. But when a person doesn't explain himself, he doesn't make any headway. As I am less timid than you--as I like to know what to expect--I am going to help you to speak out, for I believe that I have guessed the secret of your heart. You--you--are in love with me, aren't you, Monsieur Gabriel?'
"My bashful suitor began anew to examine the two ends of his cane, which annoyed me beyond words. At last, he stammered:
"'What, monsieur, you don't know? Then you must try to find out. Don't you think me pretty?'
"'Don't you feel great pleasure in being with me?'
"'Then, monsieur, of course you are in love with me.'
"And he kept on playing with his stick. Unable to contain myself, I snatched it out of his hands and threw it on the floor.
"'It seems to me, monsieur,' I cried, 'that, while I am speaking to you, you might stop playing with your cane; it looks as if you weren't listening to me, and that's very impolite!'
"The poor boy was thunderstruck by my action. He glanced at his cane out of the corner of his eye, and murmured: