"
"I will," replied she, looking up with ineffable tenderness. "I am
sure I shall rest after your kind words, Francois. No dew of Heaven
was ever more refreshing than the balm they bring to my weary soul.
Thanks, O my Francois, for them!" She kissed his lips, and Bigot
left the secret chamber a sadder and for the moment a better man
than he had ever been before.
Caroline, overcome by her emotions, threw herself on a couch,
invoking blessings upon the head of the man by whom she had been
so cruelly betrayed. But such is woman's heart--full of mercy,
compassion, and pardon for every wrong, when love pleads for
forgiveness.
"Ha! ha!" said Cadet, as the Intendant re-entered the great hall,
which was filled with bacchanalian frenzy. "Ha! ha! His Excellency
has proposed and been rejected! The fair lady has a will of her own
and won't obey! Why, the Intendant looks as if he had come from
Quintin Corentin, where nobody gets anything he wants!"
"Silence, Cadet! don't be a fool!" replied Bigot, impatiently,
although in the Intendant's usual mood nothing too gross or too bad
could be said in his presence but he could cap it with something
worse.
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