Page:Gide - Strait is the Gate.pdf/158

STRAIT IS THE GATE 156

us , that they are exceptional. And then ... if we were not to try too hard to talk just at first..." She began to laugh. I added: “Isn't there anything we could do together?” Ever since we could remember we had taken great pleasure in gardening. An inexperienced gardener had lately replaced the old one, and there was a great deal to be done in the garden, which had been neglected for the last two months. Some of the rose trees had been badly pruned; some, luxuriant growers, were encumbered with dead wood; some of the ramblers had come down for want of the necessary props; others were being exhausted by suckers. Most of them had been grafted by us; we recognised our nurslings; the attention of which they were in need took up a large part of our time, and allowed us during the first three days to talk a great deal without saying anything of weight, and, when we said nothing, it enabled us not to feel our silence burdensome. In this way we once more grew accustomed to one another. It was on this familiarity that I counted, rather than on any actual explanation. The very recollection of our separation was already beginning to disappear from between us, and the