not ignorant, as girls of well-to-do families are--for the animals
had instructed her;--but her reason and her instinct of honour
kept her from falling. Her resistance exasperated Théodore's love
and so in order to satisfy it (or perchance ingenuously), he
offered to marry her. She would not believe him at first, so he
made solemn promises. But, in a short time he mentioned a
difficulty; the previous year, his parents had purchased a
substitute for him; but any day he might be drafted and the
prospect of serving in the army alarmed him greatly. To Félicité
his cowardice appeared a proof of his love for her, and her
devotion to him grew stronger. When she met him, he would torture
her with his fears and his entreaties. At last, he announced that
he was going to the prefect himself for information, and would let
her know everything on the following Sunday, between eleven
o'clock and midnight.

When the time drew near, she ran to meet her lover.

But instead of Théodore, one of his friends was at the
meeting-place.

He informed her that she would never see her sweetheart again;
for, in order to escape the conscription, he had married a rich
old woman, Madame Lehoussais, of Toucques.

The poor girl's sorrow was frightful. She threw herself on the
ground, she cried and called on the Lord, and wandered around
desolately until sunrise. Then she went back to the farm, declared
her intention of leaving, and at the end of the month, after she
had received her wages, she packed all her belongings in a