“She may triumph, after all.”

“She shall not triumph over my resistance and my contempt.  Never—­do you hear me, Daniel?—­never will I bow down before her.  Never shall my hand touch hers.  And, if my father persists, I shall ask him, the day before his wedding, to allow me to bury myself in a convent.”

“He will not let you go.”

“Then I shall shut myself up in my room, and never leave it again.  I do not think they will drag me out by force.”

There was no mistaking it; she spoke with an earnestness and a determination which nothing could shake or break.  And yet the very saddest presentiments oppressed Daniel’s heart.  He said,—­

“But Miss Brandon will certainly not come alone to this house.”

“Whom will she bring with her?”

“Her relatives, M. Thomas Elgin and Mrs. Brian.  Oh Henrietta, dearest Henrietta! to think that you should be exposed to the spite and the persecution of these wretches!”

She raised her head proudly, and replied,—­

“I am not afraid of them.”  Then she added in a gentler tone,—­

“Besides, won’t you always be near me, to advise me, and to protect me in case of danger?”

“I?  Don’t you think they will try to part us soon enough?”

“No, Daniel, I know very well that the house will no longer be open to you.”

“Well?”

The poor girl blushed up to the roots of her hair, and, turning her. eyes away from him to avoid his looks, she said,—­

“Since they force us to do so, I must needs do a thing a girl, properly speaking, ought not to do.  We will meet secretly.  I shall have to stoop to win over one of my waiting-women, who may be discreet and obliging enough to aid me, and, through her, I will write to you, and receive your letters.”

But this arrangement did not relieve Daniel from his terrible apprehensions.  There was a question which constantly rose to his lips, and which still he did not dare to utter.  At last, making a great effort, he asked,—­

“And then?”

Henrietta understood perfectly what he meant.  She answered,—­

“I thought you would be able to wait until the day should come when the law would authorize me to make my own choice.”

“Henrietta!”

She offered him her hand, and said solemnly,—­

“And on that day, Daniel, I promise you, if my father still withholds his consent, I will ask you openly for your arm; and then, in broad daylight, before all the world, I shall leave this house never to re-enter it again.”

As quick as thought, Daniel had seized her hand, and, carrying it to his lips, he said,—­“Thanks!  A thousand thanks!  You restore me to hope.”

Still, before abandoning the effort, he thought he would try one more measure; and for that purpose it was necessary that Henrietta should be induced to conceal her intentions as long as possible.  It was only with great difficulty that he succeeded in obtaining her consent.