' My only
answer was: 'Let us go! Let us go at once!'
"It had been easy for him to foresee what the result of this
interview would be. A vehicle was indeed waiting at the door, but
not for the purpose of conveying me to the Hotel de Chalusse--as
was proved conclusively by the fact that his trunks were already
strapped upon it. Besides, the coachman must have received his
instructions in advance for he drove us straight to the Havre
Railway station without a word. It was not until some months
afterward that these trifles, which entirely escaped my notice at
the time, opened my eyes to the truth. When we reached the
station we found a train ready to start, and we took our places in
it. I tried to quiet my conscience with miserable sophistries.
Remembering that God has said to woman: To follow thy husband thou
shalt abandon all else, native land, paternal home, parents and
friends, I told myself that this was the husband whom my heart had
instinctively chosen, and that it was my duty to follow him and
share his destiny. And thus I fled with him, although I thought I
left a corpse behind me--the corpse of my only brother."
M. Wilkie was actually so much interested that he forgot his
anxiety concerning his attitude, and no longer thought of M. de
Coralth and the Marquis de Valorsay. He even sprang up, and
exclaimed: "Amazing!"
But Madame d'Argeles had already resumed: "Such was my great,
inexcusable, irreparable fault.
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