,
Valentine has no power; she will be compelled to submit. I am here
almost miraculously, and can scarcely hope for so good an opportunity to
occur again. Believe me, there are only the two plans I have proposed to
you; forgive my vanity, and tell me which you prefer. Do you authorize
Mademoiselle Valentine to intrust herself to my honor?"

"No."

"Do you prefer I should seek M. d'Epinay?"

"No."

"Whence then will come the help we need--from chance?" resumed Morrel.

"No."

"From you?"

"Yes."

"You thoroughly understand me, sir? Pardon my eagerness, for my life
depends on your answer. Will our help come from you?"

"Yes."

"You are sure of it?"

"Yes." There was so much firmness in the look which gave this answer,
no one could, at any rate, doubt his will, if they did his power. "Oh,
thank you a thousand times! But how, unless a miracle should restore
your speech, your gesture, your movement, how can you, chained to that
arm-chair, dumb and motionless, oppose this marriage?" A smile lit up
the old man's face, a strange smile of the eyes in a paralyzed face.
"Then I must wait?" asked the young man.

"Yes."

"But the contract?" The same smile returned. "Will you assure me it
shall not be signed?"

"Yes," said Noirtier.

"The contract shall not be signed!" cried Morrel. "Oh, pardon me, sir; I
can scarcely realize so great a happiness. Will they not sign it?"

"No," said the paralytic. Notwithstanding that assurance, Morrel still
hesitated. This promise of an impotent old man was so strange that,
instead of being the result of the power of his will, it might emanate
from enfeebled organs. Is it not natural that the madman, ignorant of
his folly, should attempt things beyond his power? The weak man talks of
burdens he can raise, the timid of giants he can confront, the poor
of treasures he spends, the most humble peasant, in the height of his
pride, calls himself Jupiter. Whether Noirtier understood the young
man's indecision, or whether he had not full confidence in his docility,
he looked uneasily at him. "What do you wish, sir?" asked Morrel;
"that I should renew my promise of remaining tranquil?" Noirtier's eye
remained fixed and firm, as if to imply that a promise did not suffice;
then it passed from his face to his hands.

"Shall I swear to you, sir?" asked Maximilian.

"Yes," said the paralytic with the same solemnity. Morrel understood
that the old man attached great importance to an oath.