If before the apprentice he did not even kiss her hand, he never entered their chamber, even after twenty years of marriage, without an emotion of gratitude for all the happiness that had been given him.

This was their true home, this room with its tinted paintings, its blue wall-paper, its pretty hangings, and its walnut furniture.

Never was an angry word uttered therein, and, as if from a sanctuary, a sentiment of tenderness went out from its occupants, and filled the house.

It was thus for Angelique an atmosphere of affection and love, in which she grew and thrived.
An unexpected event finished the work of forming her character.

As she was rummaging one morning in a corner of the working-room, she found on a shelf, among implements of embroidery which were no longer used, a very old copy of the "Golden Legend," by Jacques de Voragine.