me so, or I shall never tell my
story). The next morning I heard that you had gone, as you had told me
it was your intention; but my father's horse did not come back--my
father was grave, and the bishop more gloomy than usual. Two days
afterwards I was informed by my father that you were an impostor, that
all had been discovered, and that if taken you would probably be seized
by the Inquisition; but you had fled the country, and were supposed to
have embarked at Toulon. He added, that my intended husband would
arrive in a few days.

"I considered all that he had told me, and I formed the following
conclusions:--first, that you were not the person that you described
yourself to be; and, secondly, that he had discovered our attachment,
and had insisted upon your not re-appearing--but that you had deserted
me, and left the country, I knew, after what had passed, _to be
impossible_. But whether you were Monsieur de Rouille or not, you were
all I coveted, and all that I adored; and I vowed that for you I would
live or die. I felt assured that one day or another, you would come
back, and that conviction supported me. My future husband appeared--he
was odious. The time fixed for our wedding drew nigh--I had but one
resource, which was flight. A young girl who attended me (you recollect
her, she came and told us the bishop was coming, when we were in the
garden), I knew to be attached to me. I took her in confidence, and
through her means I obtained a peasant's dress, with the promise of
shelter in her father's cottage, some leagues distant. The night before
the marriage was to take place, I ran down to the river that flows past
the chateau, threw my bonnet and shawl on the bank, and then made my
escape to where her father was waiting to receive me, in a cart which he
had provided as a conveyance. The girl, who was left, managed admirably:
it was supposed that I had drowned myself, and as they had no further
occasion for her services, she was dismissed, and joined me at her
father's cottage. I remained there for more than a year, when I thought
it advisable to move, and come to Marseilles, where I obtained the
situation of housekeeper to this old gentleman, who has treated me more
like a daughter than a domestic. Now, Mr Francois, can you give so good
an account of yourself?"

"Not quite, Cerise; but I can honestly declare, that when I thought you
alive, I never forgot you, and believing you dead, I never ceased to
lament you