Emile was happy to be able to share Janille's task. He pushed the rubbish aside, and, as the staircase became more and more dilapidated and difficult, he deemed himself justified in offering his hand, which was declined at first, but afterward accepted as necessary. Who can describe the violence and ecstasy of a first love in an ardent heart? Emile trembled so when he took Gilberte's hand in his that he could no longer talk and joke with Janille nor reply to Gilberte, who continued to jest at first, but gradually became more and more agitated until she could think of nothing to say. They descended in this way only ten or twelve steps, but meanwhile time ceased to move for Emile; and when he passed the whole of the following night trying to review the emotions of that moment, it seemed to him that it had lasted a century. His past life appeared thenceforth like a dream, and his personality was transformed. When he recalled his childhood, the years at school, the tedium or the pleasure of study, he was no longer the passive, fettered creature he had hitherto felt himself to be; it was Gilberte's lover who lived through those years, thenceforth radiant, enlightened with a new light. He saw himself as a mere child, then as an active, impetuous school-boy, and, finally, as a dreamy, earnest student; and those various personages, who had seemed to him to differ like the phases of his life, became in his eyes a single being, a privileged being, who moved triumphantly forward toward the bright daylight where Gilberte's hand was to be placed in his. The underground staircase led to the base of the rocky hill which was crowned by the Château. It was a means of exit in case of a siege, and Janille was not sparing of encomiums upon that difficult and scientific piece of work. Although she lived on terms of absolute equality with her masters, and would not have waived the privilege at any price, so thoroughly convinced was she of her rights, the little woman none the less had some strangely persistent feudal ideas; and, by dint of identifying herself with the ruins of Châteaubrun, she had reached the point of admiring everything in their past history, of which she had, to tell the truth, a very confused idea. Perhaps, too, she thought it her duty, to humble the pride of the wealthy bourgeoisie by vaunting loudly before Emile the ancient might of Gilberte's ancestors. "See, monsieur," she said, escorting him from dungeon to dungeon, "this is where they brought people to their senses. You can still see the iron rings to which they fastened prisoners after their fetters were put on. This is a dungeon where they say three men were devoured by a huge serpent. The great noblemen of long ago had such creatures at their disposal. We will show to you the _oubliettes_ in a moment: it was no joke to get into them! Ah! if you had come down here before the Revolution, perhaps you would have done well to make the sign of the Cross instead of laughing!"