She was surprised to hear herself reply to the _mere_ Gabet, in the purely mechanical instinct of hiding her trouble: "Ah! then he is to marry Mademoiselle Claire.

She is not only very beautiful, but it is said she is also very good." Certainly, as soon as the old woman went away, she must go and find him.
She had waited long enough; she would break her promise of not seeing him as if it were a troublesome obstacle.

What right had anyone to separate them in this way?
Everything spoke to her of their affection--the Cathedral, the fresh water, and the old elm-trees under which they had been so happy.

Since their affection had grown on this spot, it was there that she wished to find him again, to go with him arm-in-arm far away, so far that no one would ever see them.
"That is all," said at last the _mere_ Gabet, as she hung the last napkins on a bush.

"In two hours they will be dry.