ight sign, which he obeyed like a child, and he sat down
beside her.

"Monsieur," she said to him, in a voice tremulous at first, but which
grew stronger as she proceeded, "I heard you last night perhaps with a
little too much patience. I shall now, in return, ask from you the same
kindness. You have told me that you love me, Monsieur; and I avow frankly
that I entertain a lively affection for you. Such being the case, we must
either separate forever, or unite ourselves by the only tie worthy of us
both. To part:--that will afflict me much, and I also believe it would
occasion much grief to you. To unite ourselves:--for my own part,
Monsieur, I should be willing to give you my life; but I can not do it, I
can not wed you without manifest folly. You are younger than I; and as
good and generous as I believe you to be, simple reason tells me that by
so doing I should bring bitter repentance on myself. But there is yet
another reason. I do not belong to myself, I belong to my daughter, to my
family, to my past. In giving up my name for yours I should wound, I
should cruelly afflict, all the friends who surround me, and, I believe,
some who exist no longer. Well, Monsieur," she continued, with a smile of
celestial grace and resignation, "I have discovered a way by which we yet
can avoid breaking off an intimacy so sweet to both of us--in fact, to
make it closer and more dear. My proposal may surprise you, but have the
kindness to think over it, and do not say no, at once."

She glanced at him, and was terrified at the pallor which overspread his
face. She gently took his hand, and said:

"Have patience!"

"Speak on!" he muttered, hoarsely.

"Monsieur," she continued, with her smile of angelic charity, "God be
praised, you are quite young; in our society men situated as you are do
not marry early, and I think they are right. Well, then, this is what I
wish to do, if you will allow me to tell you. I wish to blend in one
affection the two strongest sentiments of my heart! I wish to concentrate
all my care, all my tenderness, all my joy on forming a wife worthy of
you--a young soul who will make you happy, a cultivated intellect of
which you can be proud. I will promise you, Monsieur, I will swear to
you, to consecrate to you this sweet duty, and to consecrate to it all
that is best in myself. I shall devote to it all my time, every instant
of my life, as to the holy work of a saint. I swear to you that I shall
be very happ