r pride,--their
_orgueil_, as we say in French,--and that is the point of honor with
some men. And Clementine and I, we could not have concealed it much
longer. In fact, the truth was crying out everywhere, in the children,
in the house, in our own persons, in our faces. The darning did not
provide a superfluity, I guarantee you!

"Poor papa! He caught cold. He was condemned from the first. And so
all his fine qualities died; for he had fine qualities--they were too
fine for this age, that was all. Yes; it was a kindness of God to take
him before he found out. If it was to be, it was better. Just so with
Clementine as with me. After the funeral--crack! everything went to
pieces. We were at the four corners for the necessaries of life, and
the bills came in--my dear, the bills that came in! What memories!
what memories! Clementine and I exclaimed; there were some bills that
we had completely forgotten about. The lady next door sent her brother
over when papa died. He sat up all night, that night, and he assisted
us in all our arrangements. And he came in afterward, every evening.
If papa had been there, there would have been a fine scene over it; he
would have had to take the door, very likely. But now there was no one
to make objections. And so when, as I say, we were at the four corners
for the necessaries of life, he asked Clementine's permission to ask
me to marry him.

"I give you my word, Louise, I had forgotten there was such a thing as
marriage in the world for me! I had forgotten it as completely as the
chronology of the Merovingian dynasty, alas! with all the other school
things forgotten. And I do not believe Clementine remembered there was
such a possibility in the world for me. _Mon Dieu!_ when a girl is
poor she may have all the beauty in the world--not that I had beauty,
only a little prettiness. But you should have seen Clementine! She
screamed for joy when she told me. Oh, there was but one answer
according to her, and according to everybody she could consult, in her
haste. They all said it was a dispensation of Providence in my favor.
He was young, he was strong; he did not make a fortune, it was true,
but he made a good living. And what an assistance to have a man in
the family!--an assistance for Clementine and the children. But the
principal thing, after all, was, he wanted to marry me. Nobody had
ever wanted that before, my dear!

"Quick, quick, it was all arranged. All my friends did something f