es a woman so far superior to men; a trustfulness that shames
us. She was leaning on the brick balustrade and gazing at the river.

"Are you not unwise, my friend, to rush at a bound to the extremes of
friendship? You have drained the cup, offered in all sincerity, at a
draught. It is true that a real feeling is never piecemeal; it must be
whole, or it does not exist. Monsieur de Mortsauf," she added after a
short silence, "is above all things loyal and brave. Perhaps for my
sake you will forget what he said to you to-day; if he has forgotten
it to-morrow, I will myself tell him what occurred. Do not come to
Clochegourde for a few days; he will respect you more if you do not.
On Sunday, after church, he will go to you. I know him; he will wish to
undo the wrong he did, and he will like you all the better for treating
him as a man who is responsible for his words and actions."

"Five days without seeing you, without hearing your voice!"

"Do not put such warmth into your manner of speaking to me," she said.

We walked twice round the terrace in silence. Then she said, in a tone
of command which proved to me that she had taken possession of my soul,
"It is late; we will part."

I wished to kiss her hand; she hesitated, then gave it to me, and said
in a voice of entreaty: "Never take it unless I give it to you; leave me
my freedom; if not, I shall be simply a thing of yours, and that ought
not to be."

"Adieu," I said.

I went out by the little gate of the lower terrace, which she opened for
me. Just as she was about to close it she opened it again and offered me
her hand, saying: "You have been truly good to me this evening; you have
comforted my whole future; take it, my friend, take it."

I kissed her hand again and again, and when I raised my eyes I saw the
tears in hers. She returned to the upper terrace and I watched her for
a moment from the meadow. When I was on the road to Frapesle I again saw
her white robe shimmering in a moonbeam; then, a few moments later, a
light was in her bedroom.

"Oh, my Henriette!" I cried, "to you I pledge the purest love that ever
shone upon this earth."

I turned at every step as I regained Frapesle. Ineffable contentment
filled my mind. A way was open for the devotion that swells in all
youthful hearts and which in mine had been so long inert. Like the
priest who by one solemn step enters a new life, my vows were taken; I
was consecrated. A simple "Yes" had bound me to kee