"But," I said, "is there no shame in a man ripened, as I am now, by
reflection, and roughly tried by war, submitting like a child to the
caprices of a woman?"

"No," replied Arthur, "there is no shame in that; and the conduct of
this woman is not dictated by caprice. One can win nothing but honour in
repairing any evil one has done; and how few men are capable of it!
It is only just that offended modesty should claim its rights and its
natural independence. You have behaved like Albion; do not be astonished
that Edmee behaves like Philadelphia. She will not yield, except on
condition of a glorious peace, and she is right."

He wished to know how she had treated me during the two years we had
been in America. I showed him the few short letters I had received from
her. He was struck by the good sense and perfect integrity which seemed
manifested in their lofty tone and manly precision. In them Edmee had
made me no promise, nor had she even encouraged me by holding out any
direct hopes; but she had displayed a lively desire for my return, and
had spoken of the happiness we should all enjoy when, as we sat around
the fire, I should while away the evenings at the chateau with accounts
of my wonderful adventures; and she had not hesitated to tell me that,
together with her father, I was the one object of her solicitude
in life. Yet, in spite of this never-failing tenderness, a terrible
suspicion harassed me. In these short letters from my cousin, as in
those from her father and in the long, florid and affectionate epistles
from the Abbe Aubert, they never gave me any news of the events which
might be, and ought to be, taking place in the family. Each spoke of
his or her own self and never mentioned the others; or at most they
only spoke of the chevalier's attacks of the gout. It was as though an
agreement had been made between the three that none should talk about