“What pleasure to remember his words, sister!”

“We are so attentive!  When I see you listening to him, it is as if I saw myself, my dear little mirror!” said Rose, laughing, and kissing her sister’s forehead.  “Well—­when he speaks, your—­or rather our eyes—­are wide, wide open, our lips moving as if we repeated every word after him.  It is no wonder we forget nothing that he says.”

“And what he says is so grand, so noble, and generous.”

“Then, my sister, as he goes on talking, what good thoughts rise within us!  If we could but always keep them in mind.”

“Do not be afraid! they will remain in our hearts, like little birds in their mother’s nests.”

“And how lucky it is, Rose, that he loves us both at the same time!”

“He could not do otherwise, since we have but one heart between us.”

“How could he love Rose, without loving Blanche?”

“What would have become of the poor, neglected one?”

“And then again he would have found it so difficult to choose.”

“We are so much like one another.”

“So, to save himself that trouble,” said Rose, laughing, “he has chosen us both.”

“And is it not the best way?  He is alone to love us; we are two together to think of him.”

“Only he must not leave us till we reach Paris.”

“And in Paris, too—­we must see him there also.”

“Oh, above all at Paris; it will be good to have him with us—­and Dagobert, too—­in that great city.  Only think, Blanche, how beautiful it must be.”

“Paris!—­it must be like a city all of gold.”

“A city, where every one must be happy, since it is so beautiful.”

“But ought we, poor orphans, dare so much as to enter it?  How people will look at us!”

“Yes—­but every one there is happy, every one must be good also.”

“They will love us.”

“And, besides, we shall be with our friend with the fair hair and blue eyes.”

“He has yet told us nothing of Paris.”

“He has not thought of it; we must speak to him about it this very night.”

“If he is in the mood for talking.  Often you know, he likes best to gaze on us in silence—­his eyes on our eyes.”

“Yes.  In those moments, his look recalls to me the gaze of our dear mother.”

“And, as she sees it all, how pleased she must be at what has happened to us!”

“Because, when we are so much beloved, we must, I hope, deserve it.”

“See what a vain thing it is!” said Blanche, smoothing with her slender fingers the parting of the hair on her sister’s forehead.

After a moment’s reflection, Rose said to her:  “Don’t you think we should relate all this to Dagobert?”

“If you think so, let us do it.”

“We tell him everything, as we told everything to mother.  Why should we conceal this from him?”

“Especially as it is something which gives us so much pleasure.”