She looked alternately at her father and at her nurse, and then in a
trembling voice she said:

"I know all. It may be to my life-long happiness; it may be to my eternal
misery; but that man is the master of my heart."

She smiled first at her father and then at her nurse; and left the room
with the same tranquillity with which she had entered it.

The nurse and the father remained standing where she left them,
motionless, dumb, astounded.

The devil then had succeeded in gaining an entrance into Berta's house in
the manner in which we have seen; and not only had he gained an entrance
into it, but he had taken possession of it as if it had always been his
own. He was hardly out of it before he was back again. He spent in it
several of his mornings, many of his afternoons, and all his evenings; and
there was no way of escaping his assiduous visits, for Berta was always
there to receive him. And it was not easy to be angry with him, either;
for he possessed the charm of an irresistible gayety, and one had not only
to be resigned but to show pleasure at his constant presence. Besides,
neither Berta's father nor the housekeeper dared to treat him coldly; they
felt compelled, by what irresistible spell they knew not, to receive him
with all honor and with a smiling countenance.

This is the case when they are under the influence of his presence: but
when he is absent, the father and the nurse treat him without any ceremony
whatever. The two get together in secret and in whispers revenge
themselves upon him by picking him to pieces. In these secret backbitings