Raoul?"

"I do love, sir, very dearly; with my whole heart and spirit."

"And do you feel sure that this is not a mere transient liking--that
it will last, Raoul?"

"So long as life lasts in my heart, so long will my love for her last,
my father."

"And you would wish to marry her?"

"Beyond all things in this world, my dear father."

"And do you think that, were her tastes and views on the subject
consulted, she would say likewise?"

"I hope she would, sir. But I have never asked her."

"And her father, is he gracious when you meet him?"

"Most gracious, sir, and most kind. Indeed, he distinguishes me above
all the other young gentlemen who visit there."

"You would not then despair of obtaining his consent?"

"By no means, my father, if you would be so kind as to ask it."

"And you desire that I should do so?"

"You will make me the happiest man in all France, if you will."

"Then go your way, sir, and make the best you can of it with the young
lady. I will speak myself with the Sieur d'Argenson to-night; and I do
not despair any more than you do, Raoul. But look you, boy, you do not
fancy, I hope, that you are going to church with your lady-love
to-morrow or the next day. Two or three years hence, at the earliest,
will be all in very good time. You must serve a campaign or two first,
in order to show that you know how to use your sword."

"In all things, my dear father, I shall endeavor to fulfill your
wishes, knowing them to be as kindly as they are wise and prudent. I
owe you gratitude for every hour since I was born, but for none so
much as for this, for indeed you are going to make me the happiest of
men."

"Away with you, then, Sir Happiness! Betake yourself on the wings of
love to your bright lady, and mind the advice of your favorite Horace,
to pluck the pleasures of the passing hour, mindful how short is the
sum of mortal life."

The young man embraced his father gayly, and left the room with a
quick step and a joyous heart; and the jingling of his spurs, and the
quick, merry clash of his scabbard on the marble staircase, told how
joyously he descended its steps.

A moment afterward his father heard the clear, sonorous tones of his
fine voice calling to his attendants, and yet a few seconds later the
lively clatter of his horse's hoofs on the resounding pavement.

"Alas! for the happy days of youth, which are so quickly flown,"
exclaimed the father, as he participated the hopeful and