:
"I can't help thinking that a little caress now and then wouldn't hurt
any one!"

Under these conditions it is not to be supposed he was in a mood to
relate any of the details of such meagre lovemaking. His self-love was
wounded by Reine's coldness. Having always been "cock-of-the-walk," he
could not understand why he had such poor success with the only one about
whom he was in earnest. He kept quiet, therefore, hiding his anxiety
under the mask of careless indifference. Moreover, a certain primitive
instinct of prudence made him circumspect. In his innermost soul, he
still entertained doubts of Julien's sincerity. Sometimes he doubted
whether his cousin's conduct had not been dictated by the bitterness of
rejected love, rather than a generous impulse of affection, and he did
not care to reveal Reine's repulse to one whom he vaguely suspected of
being a former lover. His simple, ardent nature could not put up with
opposition, and he thought only of hastening the day when Reine would
belong to him altogether. But, when he broached this subject, he had the
mortification to find that she was less impatient than himself.

"There is no hurry," she replied, "our affairs are not in order, our
harvests are not housed, and it would be better to wait till the dull
season."

In his first moments of joy and effervescence, Claudet had evinced the
desire to announce immediately the betrothal throughout the village. This
Reine had opposed; she thought they should avoid awakening public
curiosity so long beforehand, and she extracted from Claudet a promise to
say nothing until the date of the marriage should be settled. He had
unwillingly consented, and thus, during the last month, the matter had
been dragging on indefinitely:

With Julien de Buxieres, this interminable delay, these incessant comings
and goings from the chateau to the farm, as well as the mysterious
conduct of the bridegroom-elect, became a subject of serious irritation,
amounting almost to obsession. He would have wished the affair hurried
up, and the sacrifice consummated without hindrance. He believed that
when once the newly-married pair had taken up their quarters at La
Thuiliere, the very certainty that Reine belonged in future to another
would suffice to effect a radical cure in him, and chase away the
deceptive phantoms by which he was pursued.

One evening, as Claudet was returning home, more out of humor and silent
than usual, Julien asked him, abrupt