"Good God!" said the chevalier. "Have you not been weighing all this for
the last seven years? You ought to have arrived at some conclusion about
your cousin by now. If you are willing to marry him, marry him; but if
not, for God's sake say so, and let another man come forward."

"Father," replied Edmee, somewhat coldly, "I shall marry none but him."

"'None but him' is all very well," said the chevalier, tapping the logs
with the tongs; "but that does not necessarily mean that you will marry
him."

"Yes, I will marry him, father," answered Edmee. "I could have wished
to be free a few months more; but since you are displeased at all these
delays, I am ready to obey your orders, as you know."

"Parbleu! that is a pretty way of consenting," exclaimed my uncle, "and
no doubt most gratifying to your cousin! By Jove! Bernard, I have lived
many years in this world, but I must own that I can't understand these
women yet, and it is very probable that I shall die without ever having
understood them."

"Uncle," I said, "I can quite understand my cousin's aversion for me; it
is only what I deserve. I have done all I could to atone for my errors.
But, is it altogether in her power to forget a past which has doubtless
caused her too much pain? However, if she does not forgive me, I will
imitate her severity: I will not forgive myself. Abandoning all hope in
this world, I will tear myself away from her and you, and chasten myself
with a punishment worse than death."