At last he turned and looked at me with an expression that made me
feel guilty enough at having asked. “But that isn’t all, m’sieur; I
haven’t told you the worst part yet. Last week his father—François’s
father—came here to see me. He asked me if I knew anything about
François—how he died. What could I say? Of course I couldn’t tell him.
I saw him fall—that’s all I said. And I was glad, then, that I hadn’t
done it.... No, I can’t talk about it any more, m’sieur. Don’t ask me
to, please!”