“MydearGerald！“heexclaimedreprovingly。“Youwouldleaveussoabruptly？Beforeyoursister，too！WhatwillMr。Hamelthinkofourcountryways？Prayresumeyourseat。“
Foramomenttheboystoodquitestill，thenheslowlysubsidedintohischair。Mr。Fentolinpassedaroundadecanterofwinewhichhadbeenplaceduponthetablebythebutler。Theservantshadnowlefttheroom。
“Youmustexcusemynephew，ifyouplease，Mr。Hamel，“hebegged。
“Geraldhasaboy’scuriousaversiontopraiseinanyform。Iamlookingforwardtohearingyourverdictuponmyport。Thecollectionofwineandpictureswasahobbyofmygrandfather’s，forwhichwe，hisdescendants，canneverbesufficientlygrateful。“
Hamelpraisedhiswine，asindeedhehadeveryreasonto，butforafewmomentsthesmoothconversationofhishostfellupondeafears。Helookedfromtheboy’sface，paleandwrinkledasthoughwithsomesortofsuppressedpain，tothegirl’sstill，stonyexpression。Thiswasindeedahouseofmysteries！Therewassomethinghereincomprehensible，somethingabouttherelationsofthesethreeandtheirknowledgeofoneanother，utterlybaffling。