o procure her acceptance of
him as a fiance? This point alone remained obscure. Was Julien carrying
out certain theories of the respect due his position in society, and did
he fear to contract a misalliance by marrying a mere farmer's daughter?
Or did he, with his usual timidity and distrust of himself, dread being
refused by Reine, and, half through pride, half through backward ness,
keep away for fear of a humiliating rejection? With de Buxieres's proud
and suspicious nature, each of these suppositions was equally likely. The
conclusion most undeniable was, that notwithstanding his set ideas and
his moral cowardice, Julien had an ardent and over powering love for
Mademoiselle Vincart. As to Reine herself, Claudet was more than ever
convinced that she had a secret inclination toward somebody, although she
had denied the charge. But for whom was her preference? Claudet knew the
neighborhood too well to believe the existence of any rival worth talking
about, other than his cousin de Buxieres. None of the boys of the village
or the surrounding towns had ever come courting old Father Vincart's
daughter, and de Buxieres himself possessed sufficient qualities to
attract Reine. Certainly, if he were a girl, he never should fix upon
Julien for a lover; but women often have tastes that men can not
comprehend, and Julien's refinement of nature, his bashfulness, and even
his reserve, might easily have fascinated a girl of such strong will and
somewhat peculiar notions. It was probable, therefore, that she liked
him, and perhaps had done so for a long time; but, being clear-sighted
and impartial, she could see that he never would marry her, because her
condition in life was not equal to his own. Afterward, when the man she
loved had flaunted his indifference so far as to plead the cause of
another, her pride had revolted, and in the blind agony of her wounded
feelings, she had thrown herself into the arms of the first comer, as if
to punish herself for entertaining loving thoughts of a man who could so
disdain her affection.

So, by means of that lucid intuition which the heart alone can furnish,
Claudet at last succeeded in evolving the naked truth. But the fatiguing
labor of so much thinking, to which his brain was little accustomed, and
the sadness which continued to oppress him, overcame him to such an
extent that he was obliged to sit down and rest on a clump of brushwood.
He gazed over the woods and the clearings, which he ha