OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

46 MAINLY MAIGRET
hunting for the lid of the saucepan. When she turned, she saw
Moise on his feet, bowing to her. He was holding some cyclo-styled
sheets, evidently a course that he had been studying.
Elie, who was at the table, eating eggs and bacon, rose slightly
from his seat.
" Carry on with your breakfast. Don't mind me!"
The window was coated with vapour, even the walls were wet,
and the atmosphere was so stifling that Sylvie went to the door and
opened it a few inches, meanwhile casting furtive glances at Elie.
He had only just got up, and all he had done to make himself
presentable was to run a comb through his hair. Like Baron on his
return from work, he was in his shirt-sleeves.
He went on eating, taking no notice of Sylvie, and Moise settled
down again to his studies. One had the impression of a family scene
that had been momentarily interrupted—so rooted did the two men
seem in their surroundings.
Seating herself in the wicker armchair, Sylvie asked:
"Got a cold?"
" Yes, I've a beastly cold. And a stiff neck, too."
She gazed at him intently. A silence followed, so tense with
unspoken thoughts that the student looked up uneasily from his
papers and stared first at Sylvie, then at Nagear. Sylvie was the first
to speak.
" Are you comfortable here? "
" Very comfortable indeed. Everyone's most kind."
And now Sylvie's lips tightened; she made no effort to conceal
her ill-humour. She was raging, perhaps against Elie, perhaps
against the tiresome young student who persisted in staying where
he wasn't wanted.
" I wonder Mother stands it, having the lodgers cluttering up the
kitchen all the time? "
Quietly Moise rose, went to the door, and vanished up the hall.
Sylvie decided not to waste a moment. Bending forward, she said
in a low tone :
" They've found out the numbers of the notes."
" I know that."
There was a flash of anger in her eyes.
" You know that—and you can sit here calmly, eating your
breakfast!"
That was so; he felt quite calm. He hadn't realized it at first,
but, now that she pointed it out, he was amazed at his tranquillity.