"Do not disturb my mother in her good work.

Let her come home and meet me here--the surprise will add to the pleasure.

Sit down again.

Pardon my rudeness--but are not you the young lady from the castle, of whom my mother so often writes to me as the good angel of the village?
I am sure you must be, or you would not be alone in my mother's cottage." Nina's blushes deepened, but she answered without disguise that she was from the castle.
A full half hour passed before Blanche returned.

The young and artless couple did not talk of love with their lips during that time, but their eyes beamed with a mutual passion.