years--and more in love with Edmée than ever, at last set sail and in
due time landed at Brest.

I had not sent any letter to announce my coming, and when I reached the
Château of Sainte-Sévère I almost feared to cross the threshold. Then I
rushed forward and entered the drawing room. The chevalier was asleep
and did not wake. Edmée, bending over her tapestry, did not hear my
steps.

For a few seconds I stood looking at her, then I fell at her feet
without being able to say a word. She uttered no cry, no exclamation of
surprise, but took my head in her two arms, and held it for sometime
pressed to her bosom. The good chevalier, who had waked with a start,
stared at us in astonishment; then he said:

"Well, well! what is the meaning of this?"

He could not see my face, hidden as it was in Edmée's breast. She pushed
me towards him, and the old man clasped me in his feeble arms with a
burst of generous affection.

Never shall I forget the welcome they gave me. An immense change had
taken place in me during those years of the war. I had learnt to bring
my instincts and desires into harmony with my affections, my reason, and
I had greatly developed my power of acquiring learning.

Edmée was not surprised at my intellectual progress, but she rejoiced at
it. I had shown it in my letters, she said.

My good uncle, the chevalier, now took a real liking for me, and where