“Youthinkso？“shesaid，drawingnearer，andshesighed。“Oh，Rodolphe!ifyoubutknew!Ilovedyouso!“
Itwasthenthatshetookhishand，andtheyremainedsometime，theirfingersintertwined，likethatfirstdayattheShow。Withagestureofpridehestruggledagainstthisemotion。Butsinkinguponhisbreastshesaidtohim——
“HowdidyouthinkIcouldlivewithoutyou？Onecannotlosethehabitofhappiness。Iwasdesolate。IthoughtIshoulddie。I
willtellyouaboutallthatandyouwillsee。Andyou——youfledfromme!“
For，allthethreeyears，hehadcarefullyavoidedherinconsequenceofthatnaturalcowardicethatcharacterisesthestrongersex。Emmawenton，withdaintylittlenods，morecoaxingthananamorouskitten——