“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——
“Youloveothers，confessit!Oh，Iunderstandthem，dear!I
excusethem。Youprobablyseducedthemasyouseducedme。Youareindeedaman；youhaveeverythingtomakeoneloveyou。Butwe’llbeginagain，won’twe？Wewillloveoneanother。See!Iamlaughing；Iamhappy!Oh，speak!“
Andshewascharmingtosee，withhereyes，inwhichtrembledatear，liketherainofastorminabluecorolla。
Hehaddrawnheruponhisknees，andwiththebackofhishandwascaressinghersmoothhair，whereinthetwilightwasmirroredlikeagoldenarrowonelastrayofthesun。Shebentdownherbrow；atlasthekissedherontheeyelidsquitegentlywiththetipsofhislips。
“Why，youhavebeencrying!Whatfor？“
Sheburstintotears。Rodolphethoughtthiswasanoutburstofherlove。Asshedidnotspeak，hetookthissilenceforalastremnantofresistance，andthenhecriedout——
“Oh，forgiveme!Youaretheonlyonewhopleasesme。Iwasimbecileandcruel。Iloveyou。Iwillloveyoualways。Whatisit。Tellme!“Hewaskneelingbyher。
“Well，Iamruined，Rodolphe!Youmustlendmethreethousandfrancs。“
“But——but——“saidhe，gettingupslowly，whilehisfaceassumedagraveexpression。
“Youknow，“shewentonquickly，“thatmyhusbandhadplacedhiswholefortuneatanotary’s。Heranaway。Soweborrowed；thepatientsdon’tpayus。Moreover，thesettlingoftheestateisnotyetdone；weshallhavethemoneylateron。Butto-day，forwantofthreethousandfrancs，wearetobesoldup。Itistobeatonce，thisverymoment，and，countinguponyourfriendship，I
havecometoyou。“
“Ah!“thoughtRodolphe，turningverypale，“thatwaswhatshecamefor。“Atlasthesaidwithacalmair——
“Dearmadame，Ihavenotgotthem。“
Hedidnotlie。Ifhehadhadthem，hewould，nodoubt，havegiventhem，althoughitisgenerallydisagreeabletodosuchfinethings：ademandformoneybeing，ofallthewindsthatblowuponlove，thecoldestandmostdestructive。
Firstshelookedathimforsomemoments。
“Youhavenotgotthem!“sherepeatedseveraltimes。“Youhavenotgotthem!Ioughttohavesparedmyselfthislastshame。Youneverlovedme。Youarenobetterthantheothers。“
Shewasbetraying，ruiningherself。
Rodolpheinterruptedher，declaringhewas“hardup“himself。
“Ah!Ipityyou，“saidEmma。“Yes——verymuch。“
Andfixinghereyesuponanembossedcarabine，thatshoneagainstitspanoply，“Butwhenoneissopooronedoesn’thavesilveronthebuttofone’sgun。Onedoesn’tbuyaclockinlaidwithtortoiseshell，“shewenton，pointingtoabuhltimepiece，“norsilver-giltwhistlesforone’swhips，“andshetouchedthem，“norcharmsforone’swatch。Oh，hewantsfornothing!eventoaliqueur-standinhisroom!Foryouloveyourself；youlivewell。
Youhaveachateau，farms，woods；yougohunting；youtraveltoParis。Why，ifitwerebutthat，“shecried，takinguptwostudsfromthemantelpiece，“buttheleastofthesetrifles，onecangetmoneyforthem。Oh，Idonotwantthem，keepthem!“
Andshethrewthetwolinksawayfromher，theirgoldchainbreakingasitstruckagainstthewall。
“ButI!Iwouldhavegivenyoueverything。Iwouldhavesoldall，workedforyouwithmyhands，Iwouldhavebeggedonthehighroadsforasmile，foralook，tohearyousay’Thanks!’Andyousittherequietlyinyourarm-chair，asifyouhadnotmademesufferenoughalready!Butforyou，andyouknowit，Imighthavelivedhappily。Whatmadeyoudoit？Wasitabet？Yetyoulovedme——yousaidso。Andbutamomentsince——Ah!itwouldhavebeenbettertohavedrivenmeaway。Myhandsarehotwithyourkisses，andthereisthespotonthecarpetwhereatmykneesyousworeaneternityoflove!Youmademebelieveyou；fortwoyearsyouheldmeinthemostmagnificent，thesweetestdream!Eh!Ourplansforthejourney，doyouremember？Oh，yourletter!yourletter!ittoremyheart!AndthenwhenIcomebacktohim——tohim，rich，happy，free——toimplorethehelpthefirststrangerwouldgive，asuppliant，andbringingbacktohimallmytenderness，herepulsesmebecauseitwouldcosthimthreethousandfrancs!“
“Ihaven’tgotthem，“repliedRodolphe，withthatperfectcalmwithwhichresignedragecoversitselfaswithashield。
Shewentout。Thewallstrembled，theceilingwascrushingher，andshepassedbackthroughthelongalley，stumblingagainsttheheapsofdeadleavesscatteredbythewind。Atlastshereachedtheha-hahedgeinfrontofthegate；shebrokehernailsagainstthelockinherhastetoopenit。Thenahundredstepsfartheron，breathless，almostfalling，shestopped。Andnowturninground，sheoncemoresawtheimpassivechateau，withthepark，thegardens，thethreecourts，andallthewindowsofthefacade。
Sheremainedlostinstupor，andhavingnomoreconsciousnessofherselfthanthroughthebeatingofherarteries，thatsheseemedtohearburstingforthlikeadeafeningmusicfillingallthefields。Theearthbeneathherfeetwasmoreyieldingthanthesea，andthefurrowsseemedtoherimmensebrownwavesbreakingintofoam。Everythinginherhead，ofmemories，ideas，wentoffatoncelikeathousandpiecesoffireworks。Shesawherfather，Lheureux’scloset，theirroomathome，anotherlandscape。Madnesswascominguponher；shegrewafraid，andmanagedtorecoverherself，inaconfusedway，itistrue，forshedidnotinthe，leastrememberthecauseoftheterribleconditionshewasin，thatistosay，thequestionofmoney。Shesufferedonlyinherlove，andfelthersoulpassingfromherinthismemory；aswoundedmen，dying，feeltheirlifeebbfromtheirbleedingwounds。
Nightwasfalling，crowswereflyingabout。
Suddenlyitseemedtoherthatfierysphereswereexplodingintheairlikefulminatingballswhentheystrike，andwerewhirling，whirling，tomeltatlastuponthesnowbetweenthebranchesofthetrees。InthemidstofeachofthemappearedthefaceofRodolphe。Theymultipliedanddrewnearher，penetrating，her。Italldisappeared；sherecognisedthelightsofthehousesthatshonethroughthefog。
Nowhersituation，likeanabyss，roseupbeforeher。Shewaspantingasifherheartwouldburst。Theninanecstasyofheroism，thatmadeheralmostjoyous，sherandownthehill，crossedthecow-plank，thefoot-path，thealley，themarket，andreachedthechemist’sshop。Shewasabouttoenter，butatthesoundofthebellsomeonemightcome，andslippinginbythegate，holdingherbreath，feelingherwayalongthewalls，shewentasfarasthedoorofthekitchen，whereacandlestuckonthestovewasburning。Justininhisshirt-sleeveswascarryingoutadish。
“Ah!theyaredining；Iwillwait。“
Hereturned；shetappedatthewindow。Hewentout。
“Thekey!theoneforupstairswherehekeepsthe——“
“What？“
Andhelookedather，astonishedatthepallorofherface，thatstoodoutwhiteagainsttheblackbackgroundofthenight。Sheseemedtohimextraordinarilybeautifulandmajesticasaphantom。Withoutunderstandingwhatshewanted，hehadthepresentimentofsomethingterrible。
Butshewentonquicklyinalovevoice；inasweet，meltingvoice，“Iwantit；giveittome。“
Asthepartitionwallwasthin，theycouldheartheclatteroftheforksontheplatesinthedining-room。
Shepretendedthatshewantedtokilltheratsthatkeptherfromsleeping。
“Imusttellmaster。“
“No，stay!“Thenwithanindifferentair，“Oh，it’snotworthwhile；I’lltellhimpresently。Come，lightmeupstairs。“
Sheenteredthecorridorintowhichthelaboratorydooropened。
AgainstthewallwasakeylabelledCapharnaum。
“Justin!“calledthedruggistimpatiently。
“Letusgoup。“
Andhefollowedher。Thekeyturnedinthelock，andshewentstraighttothethirdshelf，sowelldidhermemoryguideher，seizedthebluejar，toreoutthecork，plungedinherhand，andwithdrawingitfullofawhitepowder，shebeganeatingit。
“Stop!“hecried，rushingather。
“Hush!someonewillcome。“
Hewasindespair，wascallingout。