You will paint, while I embroider." He had just retaken her hands, in the centre of this great room, in the luxury of which she was quite at her ease, as it seemed to be her natural surrounding, where her grace would be fully developed.

Both of them remained silent for a moment.

Then she was, as usual, the first to speak.
"Now everything is decided upon, is it not ?" "What ?" he smilingly asked, "what do you mean ?" "Our marriage." He hesitated an instant.

His face, which had been very pale, flushed quickly.

She was disturbed at such a change.
"Have I made you angry in any way ?" But he had already conquered himself, and pressed her hands tenderly, with a grasp that seemed to cover everything.
"Yes, it is decided upon, and it is sufficient for you to wish for a thing that it should be done, no matter how many obstacles may oppose it.