For mercy's sake!" Noemi promised to be silent.

Jeanne grew calmer little by little, and was the first to move.

Oh, to be alone! Alone in her own room! The sight of the tower of Notre Dame piercing the sky with its pointed spire hurt her, like the sight of some victorious and implacable foe.

She now saw clearly that for three years she had been deceiving herself in thinking that she no longer hoped.

This hope which she had thought dead, how it still struggled and suffered, how it persisted in assailing her heart.
No, no, he has not become a monk, it is not he! In an access of longing, she pressed Noemi's arm.