Certainly, within me, I pictured the Admiral Meaulnes of old, so clumsy, so awkwardly shy, that he would rather be punished than make excuses for himself or ask permission which would naturally have been granted.
Certes, au fond de moi, je revoyais le grand Meaulnes de jadis, gauche et sauvage, qui se faisait toujours punir plutôt que de s’excuser ou de demander une permission qu’on lui eût certainement accordée.