sk if the boy could
not have another. The steward was sent for, and he said that so much
linen and so many clothes were simply in the way, instead of being of
any use, and that the rules of the house forbade him to allow another
chest of drawers, so Jeanne made up her mind to hire a room in a little
hotel close by, and to ask the landlord himself to take Poulet all he
wanted, directly the child found himself in need of anything.

They all went on the pier for the rest of the afternoon and watched the
ships entering and leaving the harbor; then, at nightfall, they went to
a restaurant for dinner. But they were too unhappy to eat, and the
dishes were placed before them and removed almost untouched as they sat
looking at each other with tearful eyes. After dinner they walked slowly
back to the college. Boys of all ages were arriving on every side, some
accompanied by their parents, others by servants. A great many were
crying, and the big, dim courtyard was filled with the sound of tears.

When the time came to say good-bye, Jeanne and Poulet clung to each
other as if they could not part, while Aunt Lison stood, quite
forgotten, in the background, with her face buried in her handkerchief.
The baron felt he too was giving way, so he hastened the farewells, and
took his daughter from the college. The landau was waiting at the door,
and they drove back to Les Peuples in a silence that was only broken by
an occasional sob.

Jeanne wept the whole of the following day, and the next she ordered the
phaeton and drove over to Havre. Poulet seemed to have got over the
separation already; It was the first time he had ever had any companions
of his own age, and, as he sat beside his mother, he fidgeted on his
chair and longed to run out and play. Every other day Jeanne went to see
him, and on Sundays took him out. She felt as though she had not energy
enough to leave the college between the recreation hours, so she waited
in the _parloir_ while the classes were going on until Poulet could come
to her again. At last the head master asked her to go up and see him,
and begged her not to come so often. She did not take any notice of his
request, and he warned her that if she still persisted in preventing her
son from enjoying his play hours, and in interrupting his work, he would
be obliged to dismiss him from the college. He also sent a note to the
baron, to the same effect, and thenceforth Jeanne was always kept in
sight at Les Peuple