Quelques minutes après les phrases d’excuses par lesquelles il avait commencé son discours, on s’aperçut qu’il était hors de son assiette ordinaire : on le trouvait ce soir-là d’une tristesse plus profonde et plus tendre que de coutume.
A few minutes after the words of apology with which he had begun his discourse, it was noticed that he was not in his normal state; it was felt that his melancholy, this evening, was more profound and more tender than usual.