“When did you meet her?”

“One day I followed a young girl to the church of La Gypecienne, and I entered a little garden close to it, where there is a stone seat under some trees.  Do you know this garden, Anne?”

“No; but never mind—­go on.”

“It began to grow dark; I had lost sight of the young girl, and in seeking her I arrived at this seat.  I saw a woman’s dress, and held out my hands.  ‘Pardon, monsieur,’ said the voice of a man whom I had not noticed, and he gently but firmly pushed me away.”

“He dared to touch you, Henri?”

“Listen; he had his face hidden in a sort of frock, and I took him for a monk.  Besides, he impressed me also by the polite manner of his warning; for, as he spoke, he pointed out to me the woman, whose white dress had attracted me, and who was kneeling before the seat as though it were an altar.  It was toward the beginning of September that this happened; the air was warm, the flowers planted by friends around the tombs scattered their delicate perfume, and the moon, rising above the white clouds, began to shed her silver light over all.  Whether it were the place, or her own dignity, I know not, but this woman seemed to me like a marble statue, and impressed me with a strange respect.  I looked at her earnestly.  She bent over the seat, enveloping it in her arms, placed her lips to it, and soon I saw her shoulders heave with such sobs as you never heard, my brother.  As she wept she kissed the stone with ardor; her tears had troubled me, but her kisses maddened me.”

“But, by the pope, it is she who is mad, to kiss a stone and sob for nothing.”

“Oh! it was a great grief that made her sob, a profound love which made her kiss the stone.  Only whom did she love? whom did she weep for? whom did she pray for?  I know not.”

“Did you not question this man?”

“Yes.”

“What did he reply?

“That she had lost her husband.”

“Bah! as if people weep like that for a husband.  Were you content with such an answer?”

“I was obliged to be content, for he would give me no other.”

“But the man—­what is he?”

“A sort of servant who lives with her.”—­“His name?”

“He would not tell me.”

“Young or old?”

“He might be about thirty.”

“Well, afterward?  She did not stop all night praying and weeping, did she?”

“No; when she had exhausted her tears she rose, and there was so much mystery and sadness about her that, instead of advancing to her as I might have done to another, I drew back; but she turned toward me, though she did not see me, and the moon shone on her face, which was calm and sad, and the traces of her tears were still on her cheeks; she moved slowly, and the servant went to support her.  But, oh! my brother, what dreadful, what superhuman beauty.  I have never seen anything like it on earth, only sometimes in my dreams.”