"We have had enough of this," said Janille, vexed because she saw no apparent end to their irresolution; "all this ought not to be discussed before my child. What would be the result if she were a weak or frivolous creature? Luckily she does not bite at your fairy tales, and as she cares very little for your money she will have too keen a sense of dignity to wait until you're at liberty to dispose of your heart. She will dispose of hers as she thinks best, and while she continues to give you her esteem and friendship, she will beg you not to compromise her by your visits. Come, Gilberte, say a sensible, brave word to put an end to all this foolish talk!" Thus far Gilberte had said nothing. Deeply moved as she was, she gazed pensively in turn at her father, Janille, and, most frequently of all, at Emile, whose ardor and tone of conviction stirred her to the depths of her soul. Suddenly she rose and knelt before her father and her governess, whose hands she affectionately kissed. "It is too late to call upon me for cold prudence, and to remind me of the exigencies of self-interest," she said; "I love Emile, I love him as dearly as he loves me, and before it had occurred to me that I could ever belong to him, I had sworn in my heart never to belong to another. Receive my confession, my father and mother before God! For two months I have not been frank with you, and for two weeks I have been hiding from you a secret that weighs upon my conscience, and that will be the last, as it is the first in my whole life. I have given my heart to Emile, I have promised to be his wife on the day that my parents and his consent. Until then, I have promised to love him bravely and calmly; I promise it now anew, and I call upon God and you to witness my promise. I have promised, and I promise again, that if his father's will is inflexible, we will love each other as brother and sister, although it will be impossible for me ever to love another, and that I will never give way to any impulse of madness and despair. Have confidence in me. See--I am strong, and I am happier than ever, since I have placed Emile between you two and with you two in my heart. Do not fear complaints or melancholy or low spirits or sickness from me. Ten years hence I shall be just as you see me to-day, finding all-powerful consolation in your love, and in my own a courage proof against every trial." "God's mercy!" cried Janille in desperation, "we are all accursed. We only lacked this. This girl of mine actually loves him and has told him so, and tells him so again before us! Oh! it was a wretched day for us that this young man entered our house!"