“Oh, well!” he exclaimed, “I’ve always been drawn toward that kind of life. A musket will be a little heavier than a gun, that’s all; then I shall see different countries, and that will change my ideas.” He tried to appear facetious, poking around the kitchen, and teasing the magpie, which was following his footsteps with inquisitive anxiety. Finally, he went up to the old man Vincart, who was lying stretched out in his picture-lined niche. He took the flabby hand of the paralytic old man, pressed it gently and endeavored to get up a little conversation with him, but he had it all to himself, the invalid staring at him all the time with uneasy, wide-open eyes. Returning to Reine, he lifted his glass.
“To your health, Reine!” said he, with forced gayety, “next time we clink glasses together, I shall be an experienced soldier—you’ll see!”
But, when he put the glass to his lips, several big tears fell in, and he had to swallow them with his wine.
“Well!” he sighed, turning away while he passed the back of his hand across his eyes, “it must be time to go.”
She accompanied him to the threshold.
“Adieu, Reine!”
“Adieu!” she murmured, faintly.
She stretched out both hands, overcome with pity and remorse. He perceived her emotion, and thinking that she perhaps still loved him a little, and repented having rejected him, threw his arms impetuously around her. He pressed her against his bosom, and imprinted kisses, wet with tears, upon her cheek. He could not leave her, and redoubled his caresses with passionate ardor, with the ecstasy of a lover who suddenly meets with a burst of tenderness on the part of the woman he has tenderly loved, and whom he expects never to fold again in his arms. He completely lost his self-control. His embrace became so ardent that Reine, alarmed at the sudden outburst, was overcome with shame and terror, notwithstanding the thought that the man, who was clasping her in his arms with such passion, was her own brother.
She tore herself away from him and pushed him violently back.
“Adieu!” she cried, retreating to the kitchen, of which she hastily shut the door.