Julien was full of that faith and determination which seems to descend to earth providentially at the moment fixed for mighty struggles; but with it all there was a certain calmness due to the direction, the habit and the temperament of his thought. There was a certain philosophical mysticism, not in the stage of discussion but in the stage of instinct, and a sort of craving to love. If he had not loved a woman, he would have loved liberty to fanaticism. Love consecrated him to self-sacrifice. As soon as Julie's image filled his heart, he no longer thought of himself except as a force which might serve to protect Julie. Did he entertain the idea that she could or would be likely to belong to him? Yes, he undoubtedly did, a confused idea, sometimes imperious, but valiantly combated. He had no prejudices; he was not, like his uncle Antoine, dazzled by rank, title and show; he knew that Julie was born in modest station and that her fortune was much impaired. Moreover, he felt that he was her equal, for he was one of those men of the third estate, who, being filled with a legitimate and tenacious pride, were beginning to say to one another: "The third estate is everything," just as they said later: "The people are everything," and just as they will say some day: "Everyone is everything," denying no kind of nobility, whether due to the sword, the toga, the factory or the plough. Thus Julien did not look upon the Comtesse d'Estrelle as a woman placed above him by circumstances, but by personal merit. That merit he exaggerated possibly in his own mind; it is the privilege of love to tend constantly toward the loftier regions of the soul, and to believe that it is summoned to the conquest of divinities. So that in his passion admirable humility was combined with boundless pride. "I am not worthy of such a woman," he said to himself; "I must become so, and when, by dint of patience, unselfishness, self-denial and respect, I have succeeded--why, then perhaps I shall feel that I have the right to say to her: 'Love me.'" But he sometimes wondered if that day would come before the unforeseen events of the future had disposed of Julie's fate; then he would say to himself: "Very well; I shall possess her esteem, perhaps her friendship, and the time I shall have devoted to governing myself with dignity will not be wasted." Madame Thierry was surprised and overjoyed therefore to find that his cheerfulness and all the symptoms of physical and moral well-being reappeared suddenly, on the very day of this momentous episode. "My friend," she said to Marcel when they were alone for a moment, "I dare not tell you what is passing through my mind; but he has such a happy look! _Mon Dieu!_ do you believe it is possible?"