“Cousin,” he cried, with the earnestness of a man who sees a fortune escaping him, “you commit suicide; you fling your mother’s property into a gulf. Well, I will prove the devotion I feel for you: you know not how I love you. I have admired you from the day of that last ball, three years ago; you were enchanting. Trust the voice of love when it speaks to you of your own interests, Marguerite.” He paused. “Yes, we must call a family council and emancipate you--without consulting you,” he added. “But what is it to be emancipated?” “It is to enjoy your own rights.” “If I can be emancipated without being married, why do you want me to marry? and whom should I marry?” Pierquin tried to look tenderly at his cousin, but the expression contrasted so strongly with his hard eyes, usually fixed on money, that Marguerite discovered the self-interest in his improvised tenderness. “You would marry the person who--pleases you--the most,” he said. “A husband is indispensable, were it only as a matter of business. You are now entering upon a struggle with your father; can you resist him all alone?” “Yes, monsieur; I shall know how to protect my brothers and sister when the time comes.” “Pshaw! the obstinate creature,” thought Pierquin. “No, you will not resist him,” he said aloud. “Let us end the subject,” she said. “Adieu, cousin, I shall endeavor to serve you in spite of yourself; I will prove my love by protecting you against your will from a disaster which all the town foresees.” “I thank you for the interest you take in me,” she answered; “but I entreat you to propose nothing and to undertake nothing which may give pain to my father.”