rly and won't let my hair fall wildly about my neck
any more. And I won't roll my sleeves up over my elbows; I will fasten
my dress so as to hide my shoulders. I still know how to bow and how to
walk along quite properly. Yes, I will make you a nice little wife, as I
walk through the streets leaning on your arm.'

'Did you ever go to church when you were a little girl?' he asked her in
an undertone, as if, in spite of himself, he were continuing aloud the
reverie which prevented him from hearing her. 'I could never pass a
church without entering it. As soon as the door closed silently
behind me, I felt as though I were in Paradise itself, with the angels
whispering stories of love in my ears and the saints caressing me with
their breath. Ah! I would have liked to live there for ever, in that
absorbing beatitude.'

She looked at him with steady eyes, a passing blaze kindling in her
loving glance. Nevertheless, submissive still, she answered:

'I will do as you may fancy. I learned music once. I was quite a clever
young lady and was taught all the accomplishments. I will go back to
school and start music again. If there is any tune you would like to
hear me play, you will only have to tell me, and I will practise it for
months and months, so as to play it to you some evening in our own home
when we are by ourselves in some snug little room, with the curtains
closely drawn. And you will pay me with just one kiss, won't you? A kiss
right on the lips, which will awaken all your love again!'

'Yes, yes,' he murmured, answering his own thoughts only; 'my great
pleasure at first was to light the candles, prepare the cruets, and
carry the missal. Then, afterwards, I was filled with bliss at the
approach of God, and felt as though I could die of sheer love. Those are
my only recollections. I know of nothing else. When I raise my hand, it
is to give a benediction. When my lips protrude it is to kiss the altar.
If I look for my heart, I can no longer find it. I have offered it to
God, and He has taken it.'

Albine grew very pale and her eyes gleamed like fire. In a quivering
voice she resumed:

'I should not like my little girl to leave me. You can send the boy to
college, if you wish, but the little girl must always keep with me. I
myself will teach her to read. Oh! I shall remember everything, and
if indeed there be anything that I find I have forgotten, I will have
masters to teach me.... Yes, we will keep our dear little