, we leave it near
her as long as possible, and feed it with the bottle, in the hope that
the sight of the poor little creature may touch her heart and awaken
feelings of motherliness in her. Nine times out of ten, as soon as she
gives the child the breast, she is vanquished, and she keeps it. That is
why you still see this baby here."

Mathieu, feeling greatly moved, drew near to Norine, who still lay back
amid her streaming hair, with her hands pressed to her face. "Come,"
said he, "you are a goodhearted girl, there is no malice in you. Why not
yourself keep that dear little fellow?"

Then she uncovered her burning, tearless face: "Did the father even come
to see me?" she asked bitterly. "I can't love the child of a man who
has behaved as he has! The mere thought that it's there, in that cradle,
puts me in a rage."

"But that dear little innocent isn't guilty. It's he whom you condemn,
yourself whom you punish, for now you will be quite alone, and he might
prove a great consolation."

"No, I tell you no, I won't. I can't keep a child like that with nobody
to help me. We all know what we can do, don't we? Well, it is of no use
my questioning myself. I'm not brave enough, I'm not stupid enough to do
such a thing. No, no, and no."

He said no more, for he realized that nothing would prevail over that
thirst for liberty which she felt in the depths of her being. With a
gesture he expressed his sadness, but he was neither indignant nor angry
with her, for others had made her what she was.

"Well, it's understood, you won't be forced to feed it," resumed Madame
Bourdieu, attempting a final effort. "But it isn't praiseworthy to
abandon the child. Why not trust it to Madame here, who would put it out
to nurse, so that you would be able to take it back some day, when you
have found work? It wouldn't cost much, and no doubt the father would
pay."

This time Norine flew into a passion. "He! pay? Ah! you don't know
him. It's not that the money would inconvenience him, for he's a
millionnaire. But all he wants is to see the little one disappear. If he
had dared he would have told me to kill it! Just ask that gentleman if I
speak the truth. You see that he keeps silent! And how am I to pay
when I haven't a copper, when to-morrow I shall be cast out-of-doors,
perhaps, without work and without bread. No, no, a thousand times no, I
can't!"

Then, overcome by an hysterical fit of despair, she burst into sobs.
"I beg you, lea