unfortunate accident has revealed to you a secret which has hitherto
been sedulously kept; promise me to bury the recollection of that
scene. Do this for my sake, I beg of you. I don't ask you to swear it;
give me your word of honor and I shall be content."

"Need I give it to you?" I said. "Do we not understand each other?"

"You must not judge unfavorably of Monsieur de Mortsauf; you see the
effects of his many sufferings under the emigration," she went on.
"To-morrow he will entirely forget all that he has said and done; you
will find him kind and excellent as ever."

"Do not seek to excuse him, madame," I replied. "I will do all you
wish. I would fling myself into the Indre at this moment if I could
restore Monsieur de Mortsauf's health and ensure you a happy life. The
only thing I cannot change is my opinion. I can give you my life, but
not my convictions; I can pay no heed to what he says, but can I
hinder him from saying it? No, in my opinion Monsieur de Mortsauf
is--"

"I understand you," she said, hastily interrupting me; "you are right.
The count is as nervous as a fashionable woman," she added, as if to
conceal the idea of madness by softening the word. "But he is only so
at intervals, once a year, when the weather is very hot. Ah, what
evils have resulted from the emigration! How many fine lives ruined!
He would have been, I am sure of it, a great soldier, an honor to his
country--"

"I know," I said, interrupting in my turn to let her see that it was
useless to attempt to deceive me.