till unpleasant.
Now I propose this. You have probably seen how my deep sympathy with you
has quickened to a warm feeling; and what I say is, will you agree to
give me a title to protect you by honouring me with your hand? I am
older than you, it is true, but as husband and wife we can leave England
together, and make the whole world our country. Though I would propose
Quebec, in Canada, as the place which offers the best promise of a home."

'"My God! You surprise me!" said she.

'"But you accept my proposal?"

'"No, no!"

'"And yet I think you will, Mademoiselle, some day!"

'"I think not."

'"I won't distress you further now."

'"Much thanks . . . I am glad to see you looking better, Monsieur; I mean
you are looking better."

'"Ah, yes. I am improving. I walk in the sun every day."

'And almost every day she saw him--sometimes nodding stiffly only,
sometimes exchanging formal civilities. "You are not gone yet," she said
on one of these occasions.

'"No. At present I don't think of going without you."

'"But you find it uncomfortable here?"

'"Somewhat. So when will you have pity on me?"

'She shook her head and went on her way. Yet she was a little moved. "He
did it on principle," she would murmur. "He had no animosity towards
them, and profited nothing!"

'She wondered how he lived. It was evident that he could not be so poor
as she had thought; his pretended poverty might be to escape notice. She
could not tell, but she knew that she was dangerously interested in him.

'And he still mended, till his thin, pale face became more full and firm.
As he mended she had to meet that request of his, advanced with even
stronger insistency.

'The arrival of the King and Court for the season as usual brought
matters to a climax for these two lonely exiles and fellow
country-people. The King's awkward preference for a part of the coast in
such dangerous proximity to France made it necessary that a strict
military vigilance should be exercised to guard the royal residents. Half-
a-dozen frigates were every night posted in a line across the bay, and
two lines of sentinels, one at the water's edge and another behind the
Esplanade, occupied the whole sea-front after eight every night. The
watering-place was growing an inconvenient residence even for
Mademoiselle V--- herself, her friendship for this strange French tutor
and writing-master who never had any pupils having been observed by many
wh