Quietude fell from the loft
ceiling; the quietude of a middle-class household gathered in concord
around their fireside. At nine o'clock Burle woke up, yawned and
announced that he was going off to bed; he apologized but declared that
he could not keep his eyes open. Half an hour later, when the major took
his leave, Mme Burle vainly called for Rose to light him downstairs;
the girl must have gone up to her room; she was, indeed, a regular hen,
snoring the round of the clock without waking.
"No need to disturb anybody," said Laguitte on the landing; "my legs are
not much better than yours, but if I get hold of the banisters I shan't
break any bones. Now, my dear lady, I leave you happy; your troubles are
ended at last. I watched Burle closely, and I'll take my oath that he's
guileless as a child. Dash it--after all, it was high time for Petticoat
Burle to reform; he was going downhill fast."
The major went away fully satisfied with the house and its inmates;
the walls were of glass and could harbor no equivocal conduct. What
particularly delighted him in his friend's return to virtue was that it
absolved him from the obligation of verifying the accounts. Nothing was
more distasteful to him than the inspection of a number of ledgers,
and as long as Burle kept steady, he--Laguitte--could smoke his pipe
in peace and sign the books in all confidence.
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