Book 2, Chapter 22: A Meeting at the Station

⁠​​​‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌‌​‌⁠Le Menil had written: “I leave tomorrow evening at seven o’clock. Meet me at the station.”

She had gone to meet him. She saw him in long coat and cape, precise and calm, in front of the hotel stages. He said only:

“Ah, you have come.”

“But, my friend, you called me.”

He did not confess that he had written in the absurd hope that she would love him again and that the rest would be forgotten, or that sh