Maurice was exhausting all his ingenuity and penetration in endeavoring to solve this mystery, when at last, on a foot-path which crosses the waste, a woman appeared—­Marie-Anne.

He rose, but fearing observation, did not venture to leave the shelter of the grove.

Marie-Anne must have felt a similar fear, for she hurried on, casting anxious glances on every side as she ran.  Maurice remarked, not without surprise, that she was bare-headed, and that she had neither shawl nor scarf about her shoulders.

As she reached the edge of the wood, he sprang toward her, and catching her hand raised it to his lips.

But this hand, which she had so often yielded to him, was now gently withdrawn, with so sad a gesture that he could not help feeling there was no hope.

“I came, Maurice,” she began, “because I could not endure the thought of your anxiety.  By doing so I have betrayed my father’s confidence—­he was obliged to leave home.  I hastened here.  And yet I promised him, only two hours ago, that I would never see you again.  You hear me—­never!”

She spoke hurriedly, but Maurice was appalled by the firmness of her accent.

Had he been less agitated, he would have seen what a terrible effort this semblance of calmness cost the young girl.  He would have understood it from her pallor, from the contraction of her lips, from the redness of the eyelids which she had vainly bathed with fresh water, and which betrayed the tears that had fallen during the night.

“If I have come,” she continued, “it is only to tell you that, for your own sake, as well as for mine, there must not remain in the secret recesses of your heart even the slightest shadow of a hope.  All is over; we are separated forever!  Only weak natures revolt against a destiny which they cannot alter.  Let us accept our fate uncomplainingly.  I wished to see you once more, and to say this:  Have courage, Maurice.  Go away—­leave Escorval—­forget me!”

“Forget you, Marie-Anne!” exclaimed the wretched young man, “forget you!”

His eyes met hers, and in a husky voice he added: 

“Will you then forget me?”

“I am a woman, Maurice—­”

But he interrupted her: 

“Ah!  I did not expect this,” he said, despondently.  “Poor fool that I was!  I believed that you would find a way to touch your father’s heart.”

She blushed slightly, hesitated, and said: 

“I have thrown myself at my father’s feet; he repulsed me.”

Maurice was thunderstruck, but recovering himself: 

“It was because you did not know how to speak to him!” he exclaimed in a passion of fury; “but I shall know—­I will present such arguments that he will be forced to yield.  What right has he to ruin my happiness with his caprices?  I love you—–­by right of this love, you are mine—­mine rather than his!  I will make him understand this, you shall see.  Where is he?  Where can I find him?”