“My dear child,” continued he at length, prudently dropping his voice a tone lower, “I will begin by repeating to you what I said yesterday to Claudet Sejournant:  the marriage, that is to say, the indissoluble union, of man and woman before God, is one of the most solemn and serious acts of life.  The Church has constituted it a sacrament, which she administers only on certain formal conditions.  Before entering into this bond, one ought, as we are taught by Holy Writ, to sound the heart, subject the very inmost of the soul to searching examinations.  I beg of you, therefore, answer my questions freely, without false shame, just as if you were at the tribunal of repentance.  Do you love Claudet?”

Reine trembled.  This appeal to her sincerity renewed all her perplexities and scruples.  She raised her full, glistening eyes to the cure, and replied, after a slight hesitation: 

“I have a sincere affection for Claudet-and-much esteem.”

“I understand that,” replied the priest, compressing his lips, “but—­excuse me if I press the matter—­has the engagement you have made with him been determined simply by considerations of affection and suitableness, or by more interior and deeper feelings?”

“Pardon, Monsieur le Cure,” returned Reine, coloring, “it seems to me that a sentiment of friendship, joined to a firm determination to prove a faithful and devoted wife, should be, in your eyes as they are in mine, a sufficient assurance that—­”

“Certainly, certainly, my dear child; and many husbands would be contented with less.  However, it is not only a question of Claudet’s happiness, but of yours also.  Come now! let me ask you:  is your affection for young Sejournant so powerful that in the event of any unforeseen circumstance happening, to break off the marriage, you would be forever unhappy?”

“Ah!” replied Reine, more embarrassed than ever, “you ask too grave a question, Monsieur le Cure!  If it were broken off without my having to reproach myself for it, it is probable that I should find consolation in time.”

“Very good!  Consequently, you do not love Claudet, if I may take the word love in the sense understood by people of the world.  You only like, you do not love him?  Tell me.  Answer frankly.”

“Frankly, Monsieur le Cure, no!”

“Thanks be to God!  We are saved!” exclaimed the Abbe, drawing a long breath, while Reine, amazed, gazed at him with wondering eyes.

“I do not understand you,” faltered she; “what is it?”

“It is this:  the marriage can not take place.”

“Can not? why?”

“It is impossible, both in the eyes of the Church and in those of the world.”

The young girl looked at him with increasing amazement.

“You alarm me!” cried she.  “What has happened?  What reasons hinder me from marrying Claudet?”

“Very powerful reasons, my dear child.  I do not feel at liberty to reveal them to you, but you must know that I am not speaking without authority, and that you may rely on the statement I have made.”