unning peasant, who partly guessed the truth; and she
replied, hastily: "I will swear it; I will swear it to you--" She tried
to think of something by which to swear, as she did not venture to
invoke sacred things, but he interrupted her: "At any rate, he used
to follow you into every corner and devoured you with his eyes at meal
times. Did you ever give him your promise, eh?"

This time she looked her master straight in the face. "No, never, never;
I will solemnly swear to you that if he were to come to-day and ask me
to marry him I would have nothing to do with him." She spoke with such
an air of sincerity that the farmer hesitated, and then he continued, as
if speaking to himself: "What, then? You have not had a misfortune,
as they call it, or it would have been known, and as it has no
consequences, no girl would refuse her master on that account. There
must be something at the bottom of it, however."

She could say nothing; she had not the strength to speak, and he asked
her again: "You will not?" "I cannot, master," she said, with a sigh,
and he turned on his heel.

She thought she had got rid of him altogether and spent the rest of the
day almost tranquilly, but was as exhausted as if she had been turning
the thrashing machine all day in the place of the old white horse, and
she went to bed as soon as she could and fell asleep immediately. In the
middle of the night, however, two hands touching the bed woke her. She
trembled with fear, but immediately recognized the farmer's voice, when
he said to her: "Don't be frightened, Rose; I have come to speak to
you." She was surprised at first, but when he tried to take liberties
with her she understood and began to tremble violently, as she
felt quite alone in the darkness, still heavy from sleep, and quite
unprotected, with that man standing near her. She certainly did not
consent, but she resisted carelessly struggling against that instinct
which is always strong in simple natures and very imperfectly protected
by the undecided will of inert and gentle races. She turned her head now
to the wall, and now toward the room, in order to avoid the attentions
which the farmer tried to press on her, but she was weakened by fatigue,
while he became brutal, intoxicated by desire.

They lived together as man and wife, and one morning he said to her: "I
have put up our banns, and we will get married next month."

She did not reply, for what could she say? She did not resist, f