XIV
After her return from Paris, Jeanne would not go out or take any interest in anything. She rose at the same hour every morning, looked out of the window to see what sort of day it was, then went downstairs and sat before the fire in the dining-room. She stayed there the whole day, sitting perfectly still with her eyes fixed on the flames while she thought of all the sorrows she had passed through. The little room grew darker and darker, but she never moved, except to put more wood on the fire, and when Rosalie brought in the lamp she cried:
“Come, Madame Jeanne, you must stir about a bit, or you won’t be able to eat any dinner again this evening.”
Often she was worried by thoughts which she could not dismiss from her mind, and she allowed herself to be tormented by the veriest trifl
