"Must I stoop so low as to defend myself from such an imputation?" she
asked, sadly. "Must I declare that if even I suspect such an arrangement
between Chanlouineau and my father, I have not been consulted? Must I
tell you that there are some sacrifices which are beyond the strength
of poor human nature? Understand this: I have found strength to renounce
the man I love--I shall never be able to accept another in his place!"

Maurice hung his head, abashed by her earnest words, dazzled by the
sublime expression of her face.

Reason returned; he realized the enormity of his suspicions, and was
horrified with himself for having dared to give utterance to them.

"Oh! pardon!" he faltered, "pardon!"

What did the mysterious causes of all these events which had so rapidly
succeeded each other, or M. Lacheneur's secrets, or Marie-Anne's
reticence, matter to him now?

He was seeking some chance of salvation; he believed that he had found
it.

"We must fly!" he exclaimed: "fly at once without pausing to look back.
Before night we shall have passed the frontier."

He sprang toward her with outstretched arms, as if to seize her and bear
her away; but she checked him by a single look.

"Fly!" said she, reproachfully; "fly! and is it you, Maurice, who