Volume VI Part 51 (1/2)

”Oh! no”

”Your father was very angry when you said no?”

”I should think so He wanted to send me back to the convent”

”You see that it is necessary to be energetic”

”I will be so”

She looked at the vast horizon, her head full of the idea of being ran off with She would go further than that with him She would be ran aith She was proud of it She scarcely thought of her reputation--of what shaht befall her Was she aware of it? Did she even suspect it?

Mada, little one What are you doing with Pretty-boy?”

They rejoined the others and spoke of the seaside, where they would soon be Then they returned hoo over the saer spoke He reflected If the little girl had a little courage, he was going to succeed at last For threeher in the irresistible net of his love

He was seducing, captivating, conquering her He had made himself loved by her, as he kne to make himself loved He had captured her childish soul without difficulty He had at first obtained of her that she should refuse Monsieur de Cazolles He had just obtained that she would fly with him For there was no other way Madaive hihter She still loved hieable violence He restrained her by his studied coldness; but he felt that she was eaten up by hungry and impotent passion He could never bend her She would never allow hiirl away he would deal on a level footing with her father Thinking of all this, he replied by broken phrases to the remarks addressed to him, and which he did not hear He only seemed to come to himself when they returned to Paris

Susan, too, was thinking, and the bells of the four horses rang in her ears, ht, gloomy forests traversed, wayside inns, and the hurry of the hostlers to change horses, for every one guesses that they are pursued

When the landau entered the court-yard of the e to dinner He refused, and went hoh his papers as if about to start on a long journey He burnt so letters, hid others, and wrote to so: ”Things nawed at his heart Suppose he was going to fail? But what could he fear? He could always get out of it Yet it was a big ga

He went out towards eleven o'clock, wandered about some time, took a cab, and had it drawn up in the Place de la Concorde, by the Ministry of Marine From time to time he struck a ht approaching, his impatience became feverish

Every moment he thrust his head out of theto look A distant clock struck twelve, then another nearer, then two together, then a last one, very far away When the latter had ceased to sound, he thought: ”It is all over It is a failure She won't coht In these matters one must be patient

He heard the quarter strike, then the half-hour, then the quarter to, and all the clocks repeated ”one,” as they had announced , racking his brain to divine what could have happened All at once a woh the , and asked: ”Are you there, Pretty-boy?”

He started, almost choked with emotion, ”Is that you, Susan?”

”Yes, it is I”

He could not h, and repeated: ”Ah! it is you, it is you; coainst him He said, ”Go on,” to the driver, and the cab started

She gasped, without saying a word

He asked: ”Well, how did it go off?”

She : ”Oh! it was terrible, above all with”Your mamma What did she say? Tell me”

”Oh! it ful I went into her room and told her rew pale, and then she cried: 'Never, never' I cried, I grew angry I vowed I wouldto strike me She went on just as if she were mad; she declared that I should be sent back to the convent the next day I had never seen her like that--never Then papa ca all her nonsense He was not so angry as she was, but he declared that you were not a good enough e, too, I shouted louder than they did And papa told me to leave the room, with a melodramatic air that did not suit him at all

This is what decidedto?”