“You were longing for me, papa,” said she, “but you see, I could not leave before all the sacks of potatoes had been laid in the wagon.  Now everything has been brought in, and we can sleep in peace.  I thought of you on the way, and I have brought you a fine bouquet of wild fruits.  We shall enjoy looking them over tomorrow, by daylight.  Now, this is the time that you are to drink your bouillon like a good papa, and then as soon as we have had our supper Guite and I will put you to bed nice and warm, and I will sing you a song to send you to sleep.”

She rose, took from the sideboard a bowl which she filled from a saucepan simmering on the stove, and then, without taking any notice of her visitors, she returned to the invalid.  Slowly and with delicate care she made him swallow the soup by spoonfuls.  Julien, notwithstanding the feeling of ill-humor caused by the untoward happenings of the evening, could not help admiring the almost maternal tenderness with which the young girl proceeded in this slow and difficult operation.  When the bowl was empty she returned to the stove, and at last bethought herself of her guests.

“Excuse me, Monsieur, but I had to attend to my father first.  If I understood quite aright, you were going to Vivey.”

“Yes, Mademoiselle, I had hoped to sleep there tonight.”

“You have probably come,” continued she, “on business connected with the chateau.  Is not the heir of Monsieur Odouart expected very shortly?”

“I am that heir,” replied Julien, coloring.

“You are Monsieur de Buxieres?” exclaimed Reine, in astonishment.  Then, embarrassed at having shown her surprise too openly, she checked herself, colored in her turn, and finally gave a rapid glance at her interlocutor.  She never should have imagined this slender young man, so melancholy in aspect, to be the new proprietor—­he was so unlike the late Odouart de Buxieres!

“Pardon me, Monsieur,” continued she, “you must have thought my first welcome somewhat unceremonious, but my first thought was for my father.  He is a great invalid, as you may have noticed, and for the first moment I feared that he had been startled by strange faces.”

“It is I, Mademoiselle,” replied Julien, with embarrassment, “it is I who ought to ask pardon for having caused all this disturbance.  But I do not intend to trouble you any longer.  If you will kindly furnish us with a guide who will direct us to the road to Vivey, we will depart to-night and sleep at the chateau.”

“No, indeed,” protested Reine, very cordially.  “You are my guests, and I shall not allow you to leave us in that manner.  Besides, you would probably find the gates closed down there, for I do not think they expected you so soon.”

During this interview, the servant who had received the travellers had returned with her milk-pail; behind her, the other farm-hands, men and women, arranged themselves silently round the table.