"Oh, brother, brother," stammered the young girl, unable at first to
think of anything else to say.

Then her grandmother cried:

"Is that all you have to say? Why, the proposition your brother has
just made you is a very advantageous one. If he is afraid of taking
Charles now, why, you can go with him, and later on you can send for
the child. Come, come, that can be very well arranged. Your brother
makes an appeal to your heart. Is it not true, Pascal, that she owes
him a favorable answer?"

The doctor, by an effort, recovered his self-possession. The chill
that had seized him made itself felt, however, in the slowness with
which he spoke.

"The offer, in effect, is very kind. Clotilde, as I said before, is
very sensible and she will accept it, if it is right that she should
do so."

The young girl, greatly agitated, rebelled at this.

"Do you wish to send me away, then, master? Maxime is very good, and I
thank him from the bottom of my heart. But to leave everything, my
God! To leave all that love me, all that I have loved until now!"

She made a despairing gesture, indicating the place and the people,
taking in all La Souleiade.

"But," responded Pascal, looking at her fixedly, "what if Maxime