His teeth struck together. As he raved, he had drawn one foot from under his chair, and moved it forward, so that the other knee touched the floor, there he knelt before her, his head bent, his whole body quivering. “ Je t’aime ,” he babbled, “ je t’ai aimée de tout temps, car tu es le Toi de ma vie, mon rêve, mon sort, mon envie, mon éternel désir⁠— ”

“ Allons, allons!” she said. “Si tes précepteurs te voyaient⁠— ”

But he shook his head, violently, bowed as it was toward the carpet, and replied: “ Je m’en ficherais, je me fiche de tous ces Carducci et de la République éloquente et du progrès humain dans le temps, car je t’aime! ”

She caressed softly the close-cropped hair at the back of his head.