it patiently to the end. You must know that our good Lomaque,
though he came in tired from his walk, occupied himself the first thing,
at my request, in writing the letter which is to secure to us our dear
old home by the banks of the Seine. When he had done, he looked at me,
and said, 'I should like to be present at your happy return to the house
where I first saw you.' 'Oh, come, come with us!' I said directly. 'I am
not an independent man,' he answered; 'I have a margin of time allowed
me at Paris, certainly, but it is not long--if I were only my own
master--' and then he stopped. Louis, I remembered all we owed to him;
I remembered that there was no sacrifice we ought not to be too glad to
make for his sake; I felt the kindness of the wish he had expressed; and
perhaps I was a little influenced by my own impatience to see once more
my flower-garden and the rooms where we used to be so happy. So I said
to him, 'I am sure Louis will agree with me that our time is yours, and
that we shall be only too glad to advance our departure so as to make
traveling leisure enough for you to come with us to Rouen. We should be
worse than ungrateful--' He stopped me. 'You have always been good to
me,' he said. 'I must not impose on your kindness now. No, no, you have
formalities to settle before you can leave this place.' 'Not one,' I
said--for we have not, as you know, Louis? 'Why, here is your furniture
to begin with,' he said. 'A few chairs and tables hired from the inn,' I
answered; 'we have only to give the landlady our key, to leave a letter
for the owner of the cottage, and then--' He laughed. 'Why, to hear you
talk, one would think you were as ready to travel as I am!' 'So we are,'
I said, 'quite as ready, living in the way we do here.' He shook his
head; but you will not shake yours, Louis, I am sure, now you have heard
all my long story? You can't blame me can you?"

Before Trudaine could answer, Lomaque looked out of the cottage window.

"I have just been telling my brother every thing," said Rose, turning
round toward him.

"And what does he say?" asked Lomaque.

"He says what I say," replied Rose, answering for her brother; "that our
time is your time--the time of our best and dearest friend."

"Shall it be done, then?" asked Lomaque, with a meaning look at
Trudaine.

Rose glanced anxiously at her brother; his face was much graver than she
had expected to see it, but his answer relieved her from all suspense.

"Y