"So you have thrown away your rank for me, you are disgraced, ruined, all for my sake! Dear Monsieur de Canolles, how can I ever pay my debt? How can I prove my gratitude to you?"
With a smile and a tear which gave him back a hundred times more than he had lost, Madame de Cambes brought Canolles to her feet.
"Ah! madame," said he, "from this moment I am rich and happy; for I am to be always with you, I am never to leave you more, I shall be happy in the privilege of seeing you, and rich in your love."
"There is no further obstacle, then?"
"No."
"You belong to me absolutely, and, while keeping your heart, I may offer your arm to Madame la Princesse?"
"You may."
"You have sent your resignation, do you say?"
"Not yet; I wished to see you first; but, as I told you, now that I have seen you again, I propose to write it here, instantly. I preferred to wait until I could do it in obedience to your orders."