d; but as
Marie would explain to him, always with the sweetest of smiles, her
business was to be nice to all her customers, and to this, of course, he
had nothing to reply: that he couldn't understand a word of what she and
Flammard talked and laughed about didn't seem to make him any the
happier.

"Well, this sort of thing went on for perhaps a fortnight, and then one
morning over our dejeune, when she and I had the Cafe entirely to
ourselves, I took the opportunity of talking to Mam'sel Marie like a
father.

"She heard me out without a murmur, which showed her sense; for liking
the girl sincerely, I didn't mince matters with her, but spoke plainly
for her good. The result was, she told me her story much as I have told
it to you.

"'It's a funny tale,' says I when she'd finished, 'though maybe you
yourself don't see the humour of it.'

"'Yes, I do,' was her answer. 'But there's a serious side to it also,'
says she, 'and that interests me more.'

"'You're sure you're not making a mistake?' I suggested.

"'He's been in my thoughts too much for me to forget him,' she replied.
'Besides, he's told me his name and all about himself.'

"'Not quite all,' says I.

"'No, and that's why I feel hard toward him,' answers she.

"'Now you listen to me,' says I. 'This is a very pretty comedy, and the
way you've played it does you credit up till now. Don't you run it on
too long, and turn it into a problem play.'

"'How d'ye mean?' says she.

"'A man's a man,' says I; 'anyhow he's one. He fell in love with you six
years ago when you were only a child, and now you're a woman he's fallen
in love with you again. If that don't convince you of his constancy,
nothing will. You stop there. Don't you try to find out any more.'

"'I mean to find out one thing, answers she: 'whether he's a man--or a
cad.'

"'That's a severe remark,' says I, 'to make about your own husband.'

"'What am I to think?' says she. 'He fooled me into loving him when, as
you say, I was only a child. Do you think I haven't suffered all these
years? It's the girl that cries her eyes out for her lover; we learn to
take 'em for what they're worth later on.'

"'But he's in love with you still,' I says. I knew what was in her mind,
but I wanted to lead her away from it if I could.

"'That's a lie,' says she, 'and you know it.' She wasn't choosing her
words; she was feeling, if you understand. 'He's in love with a pretty
waitress that he met f