d indefinite sense of coming danger,
I placed myself blindly and devotedly at your service, asking no other
reward than the pleasure of being useful to you; and have I ever since,
by word or look, given you cause of regret for having selected me from
the numbers that would willingly have sacrificed their lives for you?
You told me, my dear Valentine, that you were engaged to M. d'Epinay,
and that your father was resolved upon completing the match, and that
from his will there was no appeal, as M. de Villefort was never known
to change a determination once formed. I kept in the background, as you
wished, and waited, not for the decision of your heart or my own, but
hoping that providence would graciously interpose in our behalf, and
order events in our favor. But what cared I for delays or difficulties,
Valentine, as long as you confessed that you loved me, and took pity
on me? If you will only repeat that avowal now and then, I can endure
anything."

"Ah, Maximilian, that is the very thing that makes you so bold, and
which renders me at once so happy and unhappy, that I frequently
ask myself whether it is better for me to endure the harshness of my
mother-in-law, and her blind preference for her own child, or to be,
as I now am, insensible to any pleasure save such as I find in these
meetings, so fraught with danger to both."

"I will not admit that word," returned the young man; "it is at once
cruel and unjust. Is it possible to find a more submissive slave than
myself? You have permitted me to converse with you from time to
time, Valentine, but forbidden my ever following you in your walks or
elsewhere--have I not obeyed? And since I found means to enter this
enclosure to exchange a few words with you through this gate--to be
close to you without really seeing you--have I ever asked so much as to
touch the hem of your gown or tried to pass this barrier which is but
a trifle to one of my youth and strength? Never has a complaint or a
murmur escaped me. I have been bound by my promises as rigidly as any
knight of olden times. Come, come, dearest Valentine, confess that what
I say is true, lest I be tempted to call you unjust."

"It is true," said Valentine, as she passed the end of her slender
fingers through a small opening in the planks, and permitted Maximilian
to press his lips to them, "and you are a true and faithful friend; but
still you acted from motives of self-interest, my dear Maximilian,
for you well kne