'I cannot breathe.' And she began to sway so violently in her saddle that I sprang down, and, running round her horse's head, was just in time to catch her as she fell.

She was not quite unconscious then, for as I supported her, she cried out,-- 'Do not touch me! Do not touch me! You kill me with shame!' But as she spoke she clung to me; and I made no mistake.

Those words made me happy.

I carried her to the bank, my heart on fire, and laid her against it just as M.de Cocheforet rode up.

He sprang from his horse, his eyes blazing, 'What is this ?' he cried.