he Abbe hesitated, rubbed a spot of mud off his soutane, raised his
shoulders like a man lifting a heavy burden, then gave a deep cough.

"My dear child," continued he at length, prudently dropping his voice a
tone lower, "I will begin by repeating to you what I said yesterday to
Claudet Sejournant: the marriage, that is to say, the indissoluble union,
of man and woman before God, is one of the most solemn and serious acts
of life. The Church has constituted it a sacrament, which she administers
only on certain formal conditions. Before entering into this bond, one
ought, as we are taught by Holy Writ, to sound the heart, subject the
very inmost of the soul to searching examinations. I beg of you,
therefore, answer my questions freely, without false shame, just as if
you were at the tribunal of repentance. Do you love Claudet?"

Reine trembled. This appeal to her sincerity renewed all her perplexities
and scruples. She raised her full, glistening eyes to the cure, and
replied, after a slight hesitation:

"I have a sincere affection for Claudet-and-much esteem."

"I understand that," replied the priest, compressing his lips,
"but--excuse me if I press the matter--has the engagement you have made
with him been determined simply by considerations of affection and
suitableness, or by more interior and deeper feelings?"

"Pardon, Monsieur le Cure," returned Reine, coloring, "it seems to me
that a sentiment of friendship, joined to a firm determination to prove a
faithful and devoted wife, should be, in your eyes as they are in mine, a
sufficient assurance that--"

"Certainly, certainly, my dear child; and many husbands would be
contented with less. However, it is not only a question of Claudet's
happiness, but of yours also. Come now! let me ask you: is your affection
for young Sejournant so powerful that in the event of any unforeseen
circumstance happening, to break off the marriage, you would be forever
unhappy?"

"Ah!" replied Reine, more embarrassed than ever, "you ask too grave a
question, Monsieur le Cure! If it were broken off without my having to
reproach myself for it, it is probable that I should find consolation in
time."

"Very good! Consequently, you do not love Claudet, if I may take the word
love in the sense understood by people of the world. You only like, you
do not love him? Tell me. Answer frankly."

"Frankly, Monsieur le Cure, no!"

"Thanks be to God! We are saved!" exclaimed the Abbe, drawin