An embrace of mother and father and of the _Capitaine_, a hearty hand-shake of Père Grandin and Père Antoine, of good Privat Deschat, and an unreluctant kiss from the pretty Dora brought me well into the room.
"O! Monsieur Lupin," it was the half wailing voice of Dora, "He has gone to the regiment and is on his way to the front."
I looked intently at the half weeping child, and discovered a budding romance there.
"Come, come, Alfred," said the captain. "Tell us everything. Are there troops enough? Where are the robbers? We hear they are advancing along by Maubeuge in a broad front."
"And Alfred," it was the voice of Père Antoine, "the hospitals and the aids to the injured. Are they in good hands?"
"Monsieur Lupin," now it was Père Grandin, "is the Ministry together? Are we in safe hands under Viviani and Delcassé? Is Paris well guarded, and how goes the English alliance? Belgium is wiped out. Do the Russians make headway?"
I expected to hear next the shrill insistent voice of Privat Deschat, but as I turned towards him with a smile of interrogation, I saw he had withdrawn, and was moodily studying the ceiling.
"Alfred, will our credit be maintained? It is clear that the expense of the support of the armies, the purchase of stores, of munitions, the care of the wounded, will be almost ruinous. Does anyone predict how long the war will last? What are _rentes_ selling at?" It was my father who put this practical aspect of the case before me.
"But Alfred, what can we do? Everyone must help. Could I nurse? I would go gladly." I knew that sweet voice and I felt how the devoted heart which gave it utterance would sacrifice herself to the last atom of her body in the cause. It was Gabrielle.
"Alfred, you are hungry and tired. Hortense and Julie have put up for you a good dinner--the things you like, _un ragout de viande de saucisse avec les pommes de terres et les girofles_, all _bien melée_." Ah, that was the mother's voice, and there behind her at the library entrance shone the honest face of Hortense, brimming full of admiration, and the little curious _petite visage_ of Julie at her side, also admiring.
"Come, let us all go together with him in the dining room and sit around and hear him," said the disconsolate Dora.