No doubt, she had read De Musset, and this action was perhaps a refection
of that of Marion, but the movement was sincere. Something of the stern
pride of this other Rolla was stirred; a sob swelled his bosom, and two
tears--those tears that rise to a soldier's eyes in the presence of
nobility and goodness--fell from his eyes upon the hair of the poor girl.

"I have not come to that yet," he said, after a short silence. "But we
must part--"

"You are about to marry?" she cried.

"Oh, no!"

"Ah, so much the better!"

In a few words he told her of his approaching departure, and said that he
must devote all his remaining time to the details of the mobilization of
troops.

"So--it is all over!" said Fanny, sadly. "But fear nothing! I have
courage, and even if I have the evil eye at play, I know of something
that brings success in war. Will you accept a little fetich from me?"

"Yes, but you persist in trying to give me something," he said, placing
on a table the sealed envelope he had brought.

"How good you are!" she murmured. "Now promise me one thing: let us
dine together once more. Not at the Provencaux, however. Oh, heavens!
no! At the Cafe Anglais--where we dined before the play the first time