'Certainly,' she replied; 'I have noticed it too.'
He opened the window, letting in the cool night air. He turned: 'Come and look out, it is delightful.'
She glided softly to his side. He whispered: 'Listen to me. Do not be angry that I broach the subject at such a time, but the day after to-morrow I shall leave here and when you return to Paris it might be too late. You know that I am only a poor devil, who has his position to make, but I have the will and some intelligence, and I am advancing. A man who has attained his ambition knows what to count on; a man who has his way to make does not know what may come- -it may be better or worse. I told you one day that my most cherished dream was to have a wife like you.'
'I repeat it to you to-day. Do not reply, but let me continue. This is no proposal--the time and place would render it odious. I only wish to tell you that by a word you can make me happy, and that you can make of me as you will, either a friend or a husband--for my heart and my body are yours. I do not want you to answer me now. I do not wish to speak any more on the subject here. When we meet in Paris, you can tell me your decision.'
He uttered these words without glancing at her, and she seemed not to have heard them, for she stood by his side motionless, staring vaguely and fixedly at the landscape before her, bathed in moonlight.
At length she murmured: 'It is rather chilly,' and turned toward the bed. Duroy followed her. They did not speak but continued their watch. Toward midnight Georges fell asleep. At daybreak the nurse entered and he started up. Both he and Mme. Forestier retired to their rooms to obtain some rest. At eleven o'clock they rose and lunched together; while through the open window was wafted the sweet, perfumed air of spring. After lunch, Mme. Forestier proposed that they take a turn in the garden; as they walked slowly along, she suddenly said, without turning her head toward him, in a low, grave voice:
'Listen to me, my dear friend; I have already reflected upon what you proposed to me, and I cannot allow you to depart without a word of reply. I will, however, say neither yes nor no. We will wait, we will see; we will become better acquainted. You must think it well over too. Do not yield to an impulse. I mention this to you before even poor Charles is buried, because it is necessary, after what you have said to me, that you should know me as I am, in order not to cherish the hope you expressed to me any longer, if you are not a man who can understand and bear with me.'
'Now listen carefully: Marriage, to me, is not a chain but an association. I must be free, entirely unfettered, in all my actions- -my coming and my going; I can tolerate neither control, jealousy, nor criticism as to my conduct. I pledge my word, however, never to compromise the name of the man I marry, nor to render him ridiculous in the eyes of the world. But that man must promise to look upon me as an equal, an ally, and not as an inferior, or as an obedient, submissive wife. My ideas, I know, are not like those of other people, but I shall never change them. Do not answer me, it would be useless. We shall meet again and talk it all over later. Now take a walk; I shall return to him. Good-bye until to-night.'
He kissed her hand and left her without having uttered a word. That night they met at dinner; directly after the meal they sought their rooms, worn out with fatigue.
Charles Forestier was buried the next day in the cemetery at Cannes without any pomp, and Georges returned to Paris by the express which left at one-thirty. Mme. Forestier accompanied him to the station. They walked up and down the platform awaiting the hour of departure and conversing on indifferent subjects.
The train arrived, the journalist took his seat; a porter cried: 'Marseilles, Lyons, Paris! All aboard!' The locomotive whistled and the train moved slowly out of the station.
The young man leaned out of the carriage, and looked at the youthful widow standing on the platform gazing after him. Just as she was disappearing from his sight, he threw her a kiss, which she returned with a more discreet wave of her hand.
CHAPTER IX.
MARRIAGE
Georges Duroy resumed his old habits. Installed in the cozy apartments on Rue de Constantinople, his relations with Mme. de Marelle became quite conjugal.
Mme. Forestier had not returned; she lingered at Cannes. He, however, received a letter from her announcing her return about the middle of April, but containing not a word as to their parting. He waited. He was resolved to employ every means to marry her if she seemed to hesitate; he had faith in his good fortune, in that power of attraction which he felt within him--a power so irresistible that all women yielded to it.
At length a short note admonished him that the decisive moment had arrived.
'I am in Paris. Come to see me.'
'Madeleine Forestier.'
Nothing more. He received it at nine o'clock. At three o'clock of the same day he called at her house. She extended both hands to him with a sweet smile, and they gazed into each other's eyes for several seconds, then she murmured:
'How kind of you to come!'
He replied: 'I should have come, whensoever you bade me.'
They sat down; she inquired about the Walters, his associates, and the newspaper.
'I miss that very much,' said she. 'I had become a journalist in spirit. I like the profession.' She paused. He fancied he saw in her smile, in her voice, in her words, a kind of invitation, and although he had resolved not to hasten matters, he stammered:
'Well--why--why do you not resume--that profession--under--the name of Duroy?'
She became suddenly serious, and placing her hand on his arm, she said: 'Do not let us speak of that yet.'
Divining that she would accept him, he fell upon his knees, and passionately kissed her hands, saying:
'Thank you--thank you--how I love you.'
She rose, she was very pale. Duroy kissed her brow. When she had disengaged herself from his embrace, she said gravely: 'Listen, my friend, I have not yet fully decided; but my answer may be 'yes.' You must wait patiently, however, until I disclose the secret to you.'
He promised and left her, his heart overflowing with joy. He worked steadily, spent little, tried to save some money that he might not be without a sou at the time of his marriage, and became as miserly as he had once been prodigal. Summer glided by; then autumn, and no one suspected the tie existing between Duroy and Mme. Forestier, for they seldom met in public.
One evening Madeleine said to him: 'You have not yet told Mme. de Marelle our plans?'
'No, my dear; as you wished them kept secret, I have not mentioned them to a soul.'
'Very well; there is plenty of time. I will tell the Walters.'
She turned away her head and continued: 'If you wish, we can be married the beginning of May.'
'I obey you in all things joyfully.'
'The tenth of May, which falls on Saturday, would please me, for it is my birthday.'
'Very well, the tenth of May.'
'Your parents live near Rouen, do they not?'
'Yes, near Rouen, at Canteleu.'
'I am very anxious to see them!'
He hesitated, perplexed: 'But--they are--' Then he added more firmly: 'My dear, they are plain, country people, innkeepers, who strained every nerve to give me an education. I am not ashamed of them, but their-- simplicity--their rusticity might annoy you.'
She smiled sweetly. 'No, I will love them very much. We will visit them; I wish to. I, too, am the child of humble parents--but I lost mine--I have no one in the world'--she held out her hand to him-- 'but you.'
He was affected, conquered as he had never been by any woman.
'I have been thinking of something,' said she, 'but it is difficult to explain.'
He asked: 'What is it?'
'It is this: I am like all women. I have my--my weaknesses. I should like to bear a noble name. Can you not
