When could he write? It would soon all be done with, and then home
to Helene!
The business respecting the cement detained him longer than he had
anticipated. His mother made complications; not that she opposed
the formation of a company, but she raised many difficulties: she
should certainly prefer to have the whole affair postponed. He had
no time to talk her round, besides, she irritated him. He told it
to the hostess.
A curious being, this hostess, who directed the pension, the
business of the inmates, and a number of children, without
apparent effort. She was a widow; two of her children were nearly
twenty, but she looked scarcely thirty. Tall, dark, clever, with
eyes like glowing coals; decided, ready in conversation as in
business, like an officer long used to command, always trusted,
always obeyed; one yielded oneself involuntarily to her matter-of-
course way of arranging everything, and she was obliging, even
self-sacrificing, to those she liked--it was true that that was
not everybody. This absence of reserve was especially
characteristic of her, and was another reason why all relied on
her.
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