came from the old book with its quaint pictures, that was
placed on the little table. Agnes was first, clothed with her beautiful
hair, having on her finger the ring of betrothal to the Priest Paulin.
Then all the others came in turn. Barbara with her tower; Genevieve
with her sheep; Cecilia with her viol; Agatha with her wounded breast;
Elizabeth begging on the highways, and Catherine triumphing over the
learned doctors. She did not forget the miracle that made Lucy so heavy
that a thousand men and five yoke of oxen could not carry her away: nor
the Governor who became blind as he tried to embrace Anastasia. Then
others who seemed flying through the quiet night, still bearing marks of
the wounds inflicted upon them by their cruel martyrdom, and from which
rivers of milk were flowing instead of blood. Ah! to die from love like
them, to die in the purity of youth at the first kiss of a beloved one!

Felicien had approached her.

"I am the one person who really lives, Angelique, and you cannot give me
up for mere fancies."

"Dreams!--fancies!" she murmured.

"Yes; for if in reality these visions seem to surround you, it is simply
that you yourself have created them all. Come, dear; no longer put a
part of your life into objects about you, and they will be quiet."

She gave way to a burst of enthusiastic feeling.

"Oh no! Let them speak. Let them call out louder still! They are my
strength; they give me the courage to resist you. It is a manifestation
of the Eternal Grace, and never has it overpowered me so energetically
as now. If it is but a dream, a dream which I have placed in my
surroundings, and which comes back to me at will, what of it? It
saves me, it carries me away spotless in the midst of dangers. Listen
yourself. Yield, and obey like me. I no longer have even a wish to
follow you."

In spite of her weakness, she made a great effort and stood up, resolute
and firm.

"But you have been deceived," he said. "Even falsehood has been resorted
to in order to separate us!"

"The faults of others will not excuse our own."

"Ah! You have withdrawn your heart from me, and you love me no longer."

"I love you. I oppose you only on account of our love and for our mutual
happiness. Obtain the consent of your father; then come for me, and I
will follow you no matter where."

"My father! You do not know him. God only could ever make him yield.
Tell me, then, is this really to be the end of everything? If my fat