tly toward him.

"Mademoiselle Reine," said he then, gently, "will you allow me to
accompany you as far as La Thuiliere?"

"Certainly," she replied, briefly.

She felt a presentiment that something decisive was about to take place
between her and Julien, and her voice trembled as she replied. Profiting
by the tacit permission, de Buxieres walked beside Reine; the path was so
narrow that their garments rustled against each other, yet he did not
seem in haste to speak, and the silence was interrupted only by the
occasional flight of a bird, or the crackling of some falling branches.

"Reine," said Julien, suddenly, "you have so often and so kindly extended
to me the hand of friendship, that I have decided to speak frankly, and
open my heart to you. I love you, Reine, and have loved you for a long
time. But I have been so accustomed to hide what I think, I know so
little how to conduct myself in the varying circumstances of life, and I
have so much mistrust of myself, that I never have dared to tell you
before now. This will explain to you my stupid behavior. I am suffering
the penalty to-day, for while I was hesitating, another took my place;
although he is dead, his shadow stands between us, and I know that you
love him still."

She listened to him with bent head and half-closed eyes, and her heart
began to beat violently.

"I never have loved him in the way you suppose," she replied, simply.

A gleam of light shot through Julien's melancholy blue eyes. Both
remained silent. The green pasture-lands, bathed in the full noonday sun,
were lying before them. The grasshoppers were chirping in the bushes, and
the skylarks were soaring aloft with their joyous songs. Julien was
endeavoring to extract the exact meaning from the reply he had just
heard. He was partly reassured, but some points had still to be cleared
up.

"But still," said he, "you are lamenting his loss."

A melancholy smile flitted for an instant over Reine's pure, rosy lips.

"Are you jealous of my tears?" said she, softly.

"Oh, yes!" he exclaimed, with sudden exultation, "I love you so entirely
that I can not help envying Claudet his share in your affections! If his
death causes you such poignant regret, he must have been nearer and
dearer to you than those that survive."

"You might reasonably suppose otherwise," replied she, almost in a
whisper, "since I refused to marry him."

He shook his head, seemingly unable to accept that positive state