“Hast thou done wrong?”
“Much; and every day of my life.”
“Confess to me, and I will give thee absolution.”
“Absolution! to a woman from a woman! Never, I think; or at least saddled with such a penance as would take all savour from the grace. Well, as thou hast made thy bed——”
“So must I lie on it.”
“What! thou know’st the stranger’s motto? Little holy mother, but it is true; and I have made my bed, Nicette; and it is not a bed of flowers at all. Aïe! how the world swarms with pitfalls! Yet, at least, there is to-day an evil the less in Méricourt.”
“What evil?”
“The Englishman.”
“He is gone?”
“He is gone. I met him yesternoon on the Liége road. He had a staff in his hand and a knapsack on his shoulders.”