"I must, I will tell you. O loved sister of mine,--
let me call you so!--to you alone I dare acknowledge my hopeless
love for Le Gardeur, and my deep and abiding interest in his
welfare."
"Nay, do not say hopeless, Heloise!" replied Amelie, kissing her
fondly. "Le Gardeur is not insensible to your beauty and goodness.
He is too like myself not to love you."
"Alas, Amelie! I know it is all in vain. I have neither beauty nor
other attractions in his eyes. He left me yesterday to converse
with the Chevalier de Pean on the subject of Angelique des Meloises,
and I saw, by the agitation of his manner, the flush upon his cheek,
and the eagerness of his questioning, that he cared more for
Angelique, notwithstanding her reported engagement with the
Intendant, than he did for a thousand Heloises de Lotbiniere!"
The poor girl, overpowered by the recollection, hid her face upon
the shoulder of Amelie, and sobbed as if her very heart were
breaking,--as in truth it was.
Amelie, so happy and secure in her own affection, comforted Heloise
with her tears and caresses, but it was only by picturing in her
imagination her own state, should she be so hapless as to lose the
love of Pierre Philibert, that she could realize the depth of misery
and abandonment which filled the bosom of her fair companion.
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