“I said to her: ‘Just think, Mademoiselle, how unpleasant it will be for you. You will have to appear in court, to encounter malicious glances, to speak before everybody, and to relate in public that unfortunate occurrence in the railway-carriage. Do you not think, between ourselves, that it would have been much better for you to have put that dirty scoundrel in his place without calling for assistance, and merely to have changed your carriage?’
“She began to laugh, and replied: ‘What you say is quite true! but what could I do? I was frightened, and when one is frightened, one does not stop to reason with oneself. As soon as I realized the situation, I was very sorry that I had called out, but then it was too late. You must also remember that the idiot threw himself upon me like a madman, without saying a word and looking like a lunatic. I did not even know what he wanted of me.’
“She looked me full in the face, without being nervous or intimidated, and I said to myself: ‘She is a girl with her wits about her: I can quite see how that pig, Morin, came to make a mistake,’ and I went on, jokingly: ‘Come, Mademoiselle, confess that he was excusable, for after all, a man cannot find himself opposite such a pretty girl as you are, without feeling a legitimate desire to kiss her.’
“She laughed more than ever, and showed her teeth, and said: ‘Between the desire and the act, Monsieur, there is room for respect.’ It was a curious expression to use, although not very clear. Abruptly I asked: ‘Well now, supposing I were to kiss you now, what would you do?’ She stopped, looked at me up and down, and then said calmly: ‘Oh! you? That is quite another matter.’
“I knew perfectly well, by Jove, that it was not the same thing at all, as everybody in the neighbourhood called me ‘Handsome Labarbe.’ I was thirty years old in those days, but I asked her: ‘And why, pray?’
“She shrugged her shoulders, and replied: ‘Well! because you are not so stupid as he is.’ And then she added, with a sidelong glance: ‘Nor so ugly, either.’
“Before she could make a movement to avoid me, I had planted a hearty kiss on her cheek. She sprang aside, but it was too late, and then she said: ‘Well, you are not very bashful, either! But don’t do that sort of thing again.’
“I put on a humble look and said in a low voice: ‘Oh! Mademoiselle, as for me, if I long for one thing more than another, it is to be summoned before a magistrate on the same charge as Morin.’
“ ‘Why?’ she asked.
“Looking steadily at her, I replied: ‘Because you are one of the most beautiful creatures living; because it would be an honour and a title to glory for me to have offered you violence, and because people would have said, after seeing you: “Well, Labarbe richly deserves what he has got, but he is a lucky fellow, all the same.” ’
“She began to laugh heartily again, and said: ‘How funny you are!’ And she had not finished the word funny, before I had her in my arms and was showering hungry kisses wherever I could find a place, on her hair, her forehead, her eyes, her mouth occasionally, on her cheeks, in fact, all over her head, some part of which she was obliged to leave exposed, in spite of herself, in order to defend the others. At last she managed to release herself, blushing and angry. ‘You are very ill-mannered, Monsieur,’ she said, ‘and I am sorry I listened to you.’
“I took her hand in some confusion, and stammered out: ‘I beg your pardon, I beg your pardon, Mademoiselle. I have offended you; I have acted like a brute! Do not be angry with me for what I have done. If you knew—’
“I vainly sought for some excuse, and in a few moments she said: ‘There is nothing for me to know, Monsieur.’ But I had found something to say, and I cried: ‘Mademoiselle, I have been in love with you for a whole year!’
“She was really surprised, and raised her eyes to look at me, and I went on: ‘Yes, Mademoiselle, listen to me. I do not know Morin, and I do not care anything about him. It does not matter to me in the least if he is committed for trial and locked up meanwhile. I saw you here last year; you were down there at the gate, and I was so taken with you, that the thought of you has never left me since, and it does not matter to me whether you believe me or not. I thought you adorable, and the remembrance of you took such a hold on me that I longed to see you again, and so I made use of that fool, Morin, as a pretext, and here I am. Circumstances have made me exceed the due limits of respect, and I can only beg you to pardon me.’
“She was trying to read the truth in my eyes, and was ready to smile again; then she murmured: ‘You humbug!’ But I raised my hand, and said in a sincere voice (and I really believe that I was sincere): ‘I swear to you that I am speaking the truth.’ She replied quite simply: ‘Really?’
“We were alone, quite alone, as Rivet and her uncle had disappeared in a side walk, and I made her a real declaration of love, prolonged and gentle, while I squeezed and kissed her fingers, and she listened to it as to something new and agreeable, without exactly knowing how
