uthorized to
do so without my father's consent. She wrote and asked him, but he
replied that he would announce his decision when he returned to Lyons. My
lover went to Geneva, and as his father approved of the match he returned
with all the necessary documents and a strong letter of commendation from
M. Tolosan. When my father came to Lyons I escaped, as I told you, and my
lover got M. Tolosan to ask my hand for him of my father. His reply was,
'I can give no answer till she returns to my house!'

"M. Tolosan brought this reply to me, and I told him that I was ready to
obey if my mother would guarantee my safety. She replied, however, that
she knew her husband too well to dare to have us both under the same
roof. Again did M. Tolosan endeavour to obtain my father's consent, but
to no purpose. A few days after he left Lyons, telling us that he was
first going to Aix and then to Turin, and as it was evident that he would
never give his consent my lover proposed that I should go off with him,
promising to marry me as soon as we reached Geneva. By ill luck we
travelled through Savoy, and thus met my father. As soon as he saw us he
stopped the carriage and called to me to get out. I began to shriek, and
my lover taking me in his arms to protect me my father stabbed him in the
chest. No doubt he would have killed him, but seeing that my shrieks were
bringing people to our rescue, and probably believing that my lover was
as good as dead, he got on horseback again and rode off at full speed. I
can chew you the sword still covered with blood."

"I am obliged to answer this letter of his, and I am thinking how I can
obtain his consent."

"That's of no consequence; we can marry and be happy without it."

"True, but you ought not to despise your dower."

"Good heavens! what dower? He has no money!"

"But on the death of his father, the Marquis Desarmoises . . . . "

"That's all a lie. My father has only a small yearly pension for having
served thirty years as a Government messenger. His father has been dead
these thirty years, and my mother and my sister only live by the work
they do."

I was thunderstruck at the impudence of the fellow, who, after imposing
on me so long, had himself put me in a position to discover his deceit. I
said nothing. Just then we were told that supper was ready, and we sat at
table for three hours talking the matter over. The poor wounded man had
only to listen to me to know my feelings on the sub