I almost expected a rebuff for this hardly well-timed question, but, on the contrary, waking out of his scowling abstraction, he turned his eyes towards me, and the shade seemed to clear off his brow.
Je m'attendais presque à une rebuffade pour cette question intempestive; mais, au contraire, sortant de sa rêverie, il tourna les yeux vers moi, et son front sembla s'éclaircir.