tue of which each imparts nothing but vexations to the
other. Children, moreover, worry me. Did I not faithfully warn you about
my nature? Why are you not satisfied to have my friendship? I wish I
could make you amends for all the troubles I have caused you, through
not guessing the value of your poor five-franc pieces. I appreciate the
extent of your sacrifices; but your devotion and delicate tact can be
repaid by love alone, and I care so little for you, that this scene has
a disagreeable effect upon me.'

"'I am fully aware of my absurdity,' I said, unable to restrain my
tears. 'Pardon me,' I went on, 'it was a delight to hear those cruel
words you have just uttered, so well I love you. O, if I could testify
my love with every drop of blood in me!'

"'Men always repeat these classic formulas to us, more or less
effectively,' she answered, still smiling. 'But it appears very
difficult to die at our feet, for I see corpses of that kind about
everywhere. It is twelve o'clock. Allow me to go to bed.'

"'And in two hours' time you will cry to yourself, _Ah, mon Dieu_!'

"'Like the day before yesterday! Yes,' she said, 'I was thinking of my
stockbroker; I had forgotten to tell him to convert my five per cent
stock into threes, and the three per cents had fallen during the day.'

"I looked at her, and my eyes glittered with anger. Sometimes a
crime may be a whole romance; I understood that just then. She was so
accustomed, no doubt, to the most impassioned declarations of this kind,
that my words and my tears were forgotten already.

"'Would you marry a peer of France?' I demanded abruptly.

"'If he were a duke, I might.'

"I seized my hat and made her a bow.

"'Permit me to accompany you to the door,' she said, cutting irony in
her tones, in the poise of her head, and in her gesture.

"'Madame----'

"'Monsieur?'

"'I shall never see you again.'

"'I hope not,' and she insolently inclined her head.

"'You wish to be a duchess?' I cried, excited by a sort of madness that
her insolence roused in me. 'You are wild for honors and titles? Well,
only let me love you; bid my pen write and my voice speak for you alone;
be the inmost soul of my life, my guiding star! Then, only accept me
for your husband as a minister, a peer of France, a duke. I will make of
myself whatever you would have me be!'

"'You made good use of the time you spent with the advocate,' she said
smiling. 'There is a fervency about your pleadi