ttered immediately after the event, and those which she had
repeated in her hours of delirium.

"That I will not," replied Patience sternly; "you are not worthy to hear
any words from that mouth, and I shall certainly never repeat them to
you. Why do you want to know them? Do you hope to hide anything from men
hereafter? God saw you; for Him there are no secrets. Leave this place;
stay at Roche-Mauprat; keep quiet there; and when your uncle is dead and
your affairs are settled, leave this part of the country. If you take my
advice, you will leave it this very day. I do not want to put the law on
your track, unless your actions force me. But others besides myself,
if they are not certain of the truth, have at least a suspicion of
it. Before two days have passed a chance word said in public, the
indiscretion of some servant, may awaken the attention of justice, and
from that point to the scaffold, when a man is guilty, is but a single
step. I used not to hate you; I even had a liking for you; take this
advice, then, which you say you are ready to follow. Go away at once, or
remain in hiding and ready for flight. I do not desire your ruin; Edmee
would not desire it either--so--do you understand?"

"You must be insane to think that I could listen to such advice. I, hide
myself! or flee like a murderer! You can't dream of that! Come on!
come on! I defy the whole of you! I know not what fury and hatred are
fretting you and uniting you all against me; I know not why you want to
keep me from seeing my uncle and cousin; but I despise your follies.
My place is here; I shall not quit it except by order of my cousin or
uncle; and this order, too, I must take from their own lips; I cannot
allow sentence to be brought me by any outsider. So, thanks for your
wisdom, Monsieur Patience; in this case my own will suffice. I am your
humble servant, sir."

I was preparing to leave the cottage when he rushed in front of me, and
for a moment I saw that he was ready to use force to detain me. In spite
of his advanced age, in spite of my height and strength, he might still
have been a match, perhaps more than a match, for me in a struggle of
this kind. Short, bent, broad-shouldered, he was a Hercules.

He stopped, however, just as he was about to lay hands on me, and,
seized with one of those fits of deep tenderness to which he was subject
in his moments of greatest passion, he gazed at me with eyes of pity,
and said, in a gentle tone:

"M