save some money that he might not be
without a sou at the time of his marriage, and became as miserly as he
had once been prodigal. Summer glided by; then autumn, and no one
suspected the tie existing between Duroy and Mme. Forestier, for they
seldom met in public.

One evening Madeleine said to him: "You have not yet told Mme. de
Marelle our plans?"

"No, my dear; as you wished them kept secret, I have not mentioned them
to a soul."

"Very well; there is plenty of time. I will tell the Walters."

She turned away her head and continued: "If you wish, we can be married
the beginning of May."

"I obey you in all things joyfully."

"The tenth of May, which falls on Saturday, would please me, for it is
my birthday."

"Very well, the tenth of May."

"Your parents live near Rouen, do they not?"

"Yes, near Rouen, at Canteleu."

"I am very anxious to see them!"

He hesitated, perplexed: "But--they are--" Then he added more firmly:
"My dear, they are plain, country people, innkeepers, who strained
every nerve to give me an education. I am not ashamed of them, but
their--simplicity--their rusticity might annoy you."

She smiled sweetly. "No, I will love them very much. We will visit
them; I wish to. I, too, am the child of humble parents--but I lost
mine--I have no one in the world"--she held out her hand to him--"but
you."

He was affected, conquered as he had never been by any woman.

"I have been thinking of something," said she, "but it is difficult to
explain."

He asked: "What is it?"

"It is this: I am like all women. I have my--my weaknesses. I should
like to bear a noble name. Can you not on the occasion of our marriage
change your name somewhat?" She blushed as if she had proposed
something indelicate.

He replied simply: "I have often thought of it, but it does not seem
easy to me."

"Why not?"

He laughed. "Because I am afraid I should be ridiculed."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Not at all--not at all. Everyone does it,
and no one laughs. Separate your name in this way: Du Roy. It sounds
very well."

He replied: "No, that will not do; it is too common a proceeding. I
have thought of assuming the name of my native place, first as a
literary pseudonym and then as my surname in conjunction with Duroy,
which might later on, as you proposed, be separated."

She asked: "Is your native place Canteleu?"

"Yes."

"I do not like the termination. Could we not modify it?"

She took a pen an