ing proof of the false and miserable position I
must ever hold may be found in the fact of your being obliged to conceal
the past; and that the mother of Clara despises me for that past; views
me in the same contemptuous light all will henceforward behold me, for
the scene at the farm of Arnouville will be quickly spread
abroad,--every one will hear of it! Oh, I shall die with shame! never
again can I meet the looks of any human being!"

"Not even mine, my child?" said Madame Georges, bursting into tears, and
opening her arms to Fleur-de-Marie, "you will never find in my heart any
other feeling than the devoted tenderness of a mother. Courage, then,
dear Marie! console yourself with the knowledge of your hearty and
sincere repentance; you are here surrounded with true and affectionate
friends, let this home be your world. We will anticipate the exposure
you dread so much; our worthy abbe shall assemble the people about the
farm, who all regard you with love and respect, and he shall tell them
the sad history of your past life; and, trust me, my child, told as the
tale would be by him, whose word is law here, such a disclosure will but
serve to increase the interest all take in your welfare."

"I would fain think so, dear madame, and I submit myself. Yesterday,
when we were conversing together, M. le Cure predicted to me that I
should be called upon painfully to expiate my past offences; I ought
not, therefore, to be astonished at their commencement. He told me also
that my earthly trials would be accepted as some atonement for the great
wrong I have done; I would fain hope so. Supported through these painful
ordeals by you and my venerable pastor, I will not--I ought not to
complain."

"You will go to his presence ere long, and never will his counsels have
been more valuable to you. It is already half-past four; prepare
yourself for your visit to the rectory, my child. I shall employ myself
in writing to M. Rodolph an account of what occurred at the farm at
Arnouville, and send my letter off by express; I will then join you at
our venerable abbe's, for it is most important we should talk over
matters together."

Shortly after the Goualeuse quitted the farm in order to repair to the
rectory by the hollow road, where the old woman, the Schoolmaster, and
Tortillard had agreed to meet.

* * * * *

As may have been perceived in her conversations with Madame Georges and
the cure of Bouque