"Noël, there would be no need of that."

"Why, what do you mean, Marie?"

"I give _you_ up," said Marie proudly. "I could never stand in your way
of advancement."

"Marie, did you not say to me most solemnly only the other night:

'Il y a longtemps que je t'aime,
Jamais je ne t'oublierai.'"

"What has that to do with it, Noël? That does not alter the case. It is
just because of that I will not let you stay here. You may think it an
easy thing to decide now, but in after years you would regret remaining
here. With your gifts, your ambition, you would be thrown away. No, Noël,
_I_ bid you go. You must not stay. Good-bye, dear one, for the last time.
You must tell them to-morrow that you will go."

"It is impossible," said Noël, in an angry tone. "You can never have
cared for me to give me up in a moment like this."

"You know that is not true, Noël. I can see into the future, and it is
just because I do care so much for you that I do not wish you to waste
your life here." She spoke with an effort, and as if she were repeating
a lesson learned beforehand.

"No, that is not it," said Noël; "I am perfectly sure you never cared for
me or you could not give me up like this in a moment."