It was in vain then that the young woman showed him all the marvels with which she was burdened: the toys she had played with as a little girl; all the photographs of herself as a child; as a vivandière, herself and Frantz on their mother's knee, and such a pretty mother . . . then all that was left of her sedate little dresses of childhood; 'even this one which I was still wearing just before you came to know me, at the time, so I believe, you must have arrived at the Higher Elementary School at Sainte-Agathe . . .' Meaulnes no longer saw anything or heard anything.
La jeune femme, alors, eut beau lui montrer les choses merveilleuses dont elle était chargée : ses jouets de petite fille, toutes ses photographies d’enfant : elle, en cantinière, elle et Frantz sur les genoux de leur mère, qui était si jolie… puis tout ce qui restait de ses sages petites robes de jadis : « jusqu’à celle-ci que je portais, voyez, vers le temps où vous alliez bientôt me connaître, où vous arriviez, je crois, au cours de Sainte-Agathe… Meaulnes ne voyait plus rien et n’entendait plus rien.