An hour passed thus, while Henri kept the same attitude,
erect, attentive, motionless, with stray scraps of
his childhood’s prayers running through his brain.
Suddenly the heavy eyelids of the wounded girl were
lifted; the dulness of the eyes disappeared; her body
made an involuntary attempt to change its position;
the nostrils dilated; the lips quivered in an effort
to speak. Youth and life had triumphed over death.
With painful slowness, she tried to raise her hand
to her head, the seat of her pain, where, though half
paralyzed, thought was beginning to return.
Her eyes wandered to and fro in the shadowy room,
seeking to recognize the surroundings. A ray of
light, filtering through the window-curtains, showed
her the anxious face bending tenderly over her.
“Henri!” she murmured, in a soft, plaintive
voice. That name, pronounced thus, the first word
uttered after her long swoon, revealed her secret.
Never had a more complete yet modest avowal been
more simply expressed; was it not natural that he should
be present at her reentrance into life, since she
loved him? With women, the sentiment of love
responds to the most diverse objects. The ordinary
young girl of Zibeline’s age, either before or
after her sojourn in a convent, considers that a man
of thirty has arrived at middle age, and that a man
of forty is absolutely old. Should she accept
a man of either of these ages, she does it because
a fortune, a title, or high social rank silences her
other tastes, and her ambition does the rest.
But, with an exceptional woman, like Mademoiselle
de Vermont, brought up in view of wide horizons, in
the midst of plains cleared by bold pioneers, among
whom the most valorous governed the others, a man like
General de Prerolles realized her ideal all the more,
because both their natures presented the same striking
characteristics: carelessness of danger, and
frankness carried to its extremest limit. Therefore,
this declaration— to use the common expression—entirely
free from artifice or affectation, charmed Henri for
one reason, yet, on the other hand, redoubled his
perplexity. How could he conciliate his scruples
of conscience with the aspirations of his heart?
The problem seemed then as insoluble as when it had
been presented the first time. But Valentine was
saved. For the moment that was the essential
point, the only one in question. The involuntary
revelation of her secret had brought the color to her
cheeks, the light to her eyes, a smile to her lips,
in spite of the leaden band that seemed still pressing
upon her head. “How you have frightened
me!” said Henri, in a low voice, seating himself
on the side of the bed and taking her hand. “Is
that true?” she asked, softly pressing his fingers.
“Hush!” he said, making a movement to
enjoin silence. She obeyed, and they remained
a few moments thus. Nevertheless, he reflected
that the account of the accident would soon be spread
everywhere, that Valentine’s new friends would
hear about it as soon as they arrived at the race-track
that day, and that he could no longer prolong his stay
beside her.