but that was because Mamma owed her for a whole
term. From the time I was fifteen I began to think seriously about going
on the stage. I entered the Conservatoire, I worked, I worked very hard.
It's a back-breaking trade. But success brings rest."

Opposite the chalet on the island they found the ferry-boat moored to
the landing. Ligny jumped into it, pulling Felicie after him.

"Those tall trees are lovely, even without leaves," she said. "But I
thought the chalet was closed at this time of the year."

The ferryman told them that, on fine winter days, people out for a walk
liked to visit the island, because they could enjoy quiet there, and
that he had only just ferried a couple of ladies across.

A waiter, who was living amid the solitude of the island, brought them
tea, in a rustic sitting-room, furnished with a couple of chairs, a
table, a piano, and a sofa. The panelling was mildewed, the planks of
the flooring had started. Felicie looked out of the window at the lawn
and the tall trees.

"What is that," she asked, "that big dark ball on the poplar?"

"That's mistletoe, my pet."

"One would think it was an animal rolled round the branch, gnawing at
it. It isn't nice to look at."

She rested her head on her lover's shoulder, saying in a languid tone:

"I love you."

He drew her down upon the sofa. She felt him, kneeling at her feet, his
hands, clumsy with impatience, gliding over her, and she suffered his
attempts, inert, discouraged, foreseeing that it was useless. Her ears
were ringing like a little bell. The ringing ceased, and she heard; on
her right, a strange, clear, glacial voice say. "I forbid you to belong
to one another." It seemed to her that the voice spoke from above, in
the glow of light, but she did not dare to turn her head. It was an
unfamiliar voice. Involuntarily and despite herself she tried to
remember his voice, and she realized that she had forgotten its sound,
and that she could never again remember it. The thought came to her
"Perhaps this is the voice he has now." Terrified, she swiftly pushed
her skirt over her knees. But she refrained from crying out, and she did
not speak of what she had just heard, lest she should be taken for a
madwoman, and because she realized somehow that it was not real.

Ligny drew away from her.

"If you don't want anything more to do with me, say so honestly. I am
not going to take you by force."

Sitting upright, with her knees pressed together,