"I heard 'birr! birr!' and a magnificent covey rose at ten paces from
me. I aimed. Pif! paf! and I saw a shower, a veritable shower of
birds. There were seven of them!"--And they all went into raptures,
amazed, but reciprocally credulous.
She was still smiling as she looked at him; she even began to laugh; and
he lost his head trying to find something suitable to say, no matter
what. But he could think of nothing, nothing, and then, seized with a
coward's courage, he said to himself: 'So much the worse, I will risk
everything,' and suddenly, without the slightest warning, he went toward
her, his arms extended, his lips protruding, and, seizing her in his
arms, he kissed her.
My elder sons never loved me, never petted me, scarcely treated me as a
mother, but during my whole life I did my duty towards them, and I owe
them nothing more after my death. The ties of blood cannot exist
without daily and constant affection. An ungrateful son is less than, a
stranger; he is a culprit, for he has no right to be indifferent towards
his mother.