"Well, just so long as Joly doesn't come and scold me for urging his patient into setting back his recovery. He is a terrible scold, don't you know; I live in terror of his slightest reprimand. --Hm, well, it's a wonder I only broke one arm, once. I fell off a diligence, traveling between Paris and Armentières. I was sitting on the top, you see, and we hit a bad patch of the road, and everyone tumbled over onto his neighbor--only I was at an end, with no neighbor to tumble onto, so I had to tumble off."

It's good to see Autor laugh. Some things might be going wrong in Bossuet's life right now, but at least he can still cheer up a friend.