To confess the truth, this was far from easy with a man who seemed bent
on being all politeness and kindness.

Distracted by these thoughts, I forgot the dinner hour; and when I saw
the sun sinking behind the turrets of the castle I realized too late
that my absence must have been noticed, and that I could not appear
without submitting to Edmee's searching questions, and to the abbe's
cold, piercing gaze, which, though it always seemed to avoid mine, I
would suddenly surprise in the act of sounding the very depths of my
conscience.

I resolved not to return to the house till nightfall, and I threw myself
upon the grass and tried to find rest for my aching head in sleep. I did
fall asleep in fact. When I awoke the moon was rising in the heavens,
which were still red with the glow of sunset. The noise which had
aroused me was very slight; but there are some sounds which strike the
heart before reaching the ear; and the subtlest emanations of love will
at times pierce through the coarsest organization. Edmee's voice had
just pronounced my name a short distance away, behind some foliage. At
first I thought I had been dreaming; I remained where I was, held my
breath and listened. It was she, on her way to the hermit's, in company
with the abbe. They had stopped in a covered walk five or six yards from
me, and they were talking in low voices, but in those clear tones which,
in an exchange of confidence, compels attention with peculiar solemnity.

"I fear," Edmee was saying, "that there will be trouble between him and
M. de la Marche; perhaps something very serious--who knows? You do not
understand Bernard."