Micheline knew that she must put an end to it.

She replied with firmness: "A girl such as I am will not break her word; mine belongs to you, but my heart is another's.

Say you insist, and I am ready to keep my promise to become your wife.

It is for you to decide." Pierre gave the young girl a look which plunged into the depths of her heart.

He read there her resolve that she would act loyally, but that at the same time she would never forget him who had so irresistibly gained her heart.