Guy de Maupassant,
Bel Ami — Chapter XIIA Meeting And The Result
(1885)
“ The man slackened his pace and looked at Georges with the evident desire to speak to him. When he was near him, he bowed and said politely:"I beg your pardon, sir, for disturbing you; but can you tell me when this church was built?"Du Roy replied: "I do not know; I think it is twenty or twenty-five years. It is the first time I have been here. I have never seen it before." Feeling interested in the stranger, the journalist continued: "It seems to me that you are examining into it very carefully." ”
