'It is of no use my staying here any longer, M. le Cure,' she said
at last, 'because I am quite sure that nothing on earth will induce
me to consent. I am very sorry for what I have done. If you tell
me that I have sinned, I will repent and confess it. I have
repented, and am very, very sorry. I know now that I was very wrong
ever to think it possible that I could be his wife. But you can't
make me think that I am wrong in this.'

Then she left him, and as soon as she was gone, Madame Voss returned
to hear the priest's report as to his success.

In the mean time, Michel Voss had reached Basle, arriving there some
five hours before Marie's letter, and, in his ignorance of the law,
had made his futile attempt to intercept the letter before it
reached the hands of M. Urmand. But he was with Urmand when the
letter was delivered, and endeavoured to persuade his young friend
not to open it. But in doing this he was obliged to explain, to a
certain extent, what was the nature of the letter. He was obliged
to say so much about it as to justify the unhappy lover in asserting
that it would be better for them all that he should know the
contents. 'At any rate, you will promise not to believe it,' said
Michel. And he did succeed in obtaining from M. Urmand a sort of
promise that he would not regard the words of the letter as in truth
expressing Marie's real resolution. 'Girls, you know, are such
queer cattle,' said Michel. 'They think about all manner of things,
and then they don't know what they are thinking.'

'But who is the other man?' demanded Adrian, as soon as he had
finished the letter. Any one judging from his countenance when he
asked the question would have imagined that in spite of his promise