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she breathed, and the tears fell afresh. "Tell me the truth, Suzette." "I have told monsieur the--the--truth," she stammered bravely with a fresh effort to strangle her sobs. "You do not love Monsieur Tanrade, my child?" "No, monsieur--I--I--was a little fool to have cried. It was stronger than I--the news. The marriage is so gay, monsieur--it is so easy for some." "Ah--then you do love some one?" "_Oui_, monsieur--" and her eyes looked up into mine. "Who?" "Gaston, monsieur--as always." "Gaston, eh! the little soldier I lodged during the manoeuvres--the little trombonist whom the general swore he would put in jail for missing his train. _Sapristi!_ I had forgotten him--and you wish to marry him, Suzette?" She nodded mutely in assent, then with a hopeless little sigh she added: "_Helas_--it is not easy--when one has nothing one must work hard and wait--_Ah, mon Dieu!_" "Sit down, my little one," I said. "I have something serious to think over." She did as I bade her, seating herself in silence before the fire. I have never regarded Suzette as a servant--she has always been to me more like a child whom I was responsible for. What would my house abandoned by the marsh have been without her cheeriness, and her devotion, I thought, and what would it be when she was gone? No other Suzette would ever be like her--and her cooking would vanish with the rest. _Diable!_ these little marriages play the devil with us at times. And yet, if any one deserved to be happy it was Suzette. I realized too, all that her going would mean to me, and moreover that her devotion to her master was such that if I should say "stay" she would have stayed on quite as if her own father had counselled her. As I turned toward her sitting humbly in the chair, I saw she was again struggling to keep back her tears. It was high time for me to speak. I seated myself beside her upon the arm of the chair and took her warm little hands in mine. "You shall marry your Gaston, Suzette," I said, "and you shall have enough to marry on even if I have to sell the big field and the cow that goes with it." She started, trembling violently, then gave a little gasp of joy. "Oh, monsieur! and it is true?" she cried eagerly. "Yes, my child--there shall be two weddings in Pont du Sable! Now run and tell Monsieur le Cure." * * * * * Monsieur le Cure ran too, when he heard the news--straight to my hous
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