“Oh no! Let them speak. Let them call out louder still! They are my strength; they give me the courage to resist you. It is a manifestation of the Eternal Grace, and never has it overpowered me so energetically as now. If it is but a dream, a dream which I have placed in my surroundings, and which comes back to me at will, what of it? It saves me, it carries me away spotless in the midst of dangers. Listen yourself. Yield, and obey like me. I no longer have even a wish to follow you.” In spite of her weakness, she made a great effort and stood up, resolute and firm. “But you have been deceived,” he said. “Even falsehood has been resorted to in order to separate us!” “The faults of others will not excuse our own.” “Ah! You have withdrawn your heart from me, and you love me no longer.” “I love you. I oppose you only on account of our love and for our mutual happiness. Obtain the consent of your father; then come for me, and I will follow you no matter where.” “My father! You do not know him. God only could ever make him yield. Tell me, then, is this really to be the end of everything? If my father orders me to marry Claire de Voincourt, must I in that case obey him?” At this last blow Angelique tottered. Was no torture to be spared her? She could not restrain this heartbroken cry: “Oh! that is too much! My sufferings are greater than I can bear. I beseech you go away quickly and do not be so cruel. Why did you come at all? I was resigned. I had learned to accept the misfortune of being no longer loved by you. Yet the moment that I am reassured of your affection, all my martyrdom recommences; and how can you expect me to live now?” Felicien, not aware of the depth of her despair, and thinking that she had yielded simply to a momentary feeling, repeated his question: “If my father wishes me to marry her----” She struggled heroically against her intense suffering; she succeeded in standing up, notwithstanding that her heart was crushed, and dragging herself slowly towards the table, as if to make room for him to pass her, she said: “Marry her, for it is always necessary to obey.” In his turn he was now before the window, ready to take his departure, because she had sent him away from her. “But it will make you die if I do so.” She had regained her calmness, and, smiling sadly, she replied: “Oh! that work is nearly done already.” For one moment more he looked at her, so pale, so thin, so wan; light as a feather, to be carried away by the faintest breath. Then, with a brusque movement of furious resolution, he disappeared in the night. When he was no longer there, Angelique, leaning against the back of her armchair, stretched her hands out in agony towards the darkness, and her frail body was shaken by heavy sobs, and cold perspiration came out upon her face and neck.