“If you do not wish to remain in France, this property will sell for at least forty thousand francs.
“But it would, it seems to me, be better for you to remain in your own country. The house on the Borderie is comfortable and convenient, since I have had it divided into three rooms and thoroughly repaired.
“Upstairs is a room that has been fitted up by the best upholsterer in Montaignac. I intended it for you. Beneath the hearth-stone in this room you will find a box containing three hundred and twenty-seven louis d’or and one hundred and forty-six livres.
“If you refuse this gift, it will be because you scorn me even after I am dead. Accept it, if not for your own sake, for the sake of—I dare not write it; but you will understand my meaning only too well.
“If Maurice is not killed, and I shall try my best to stand between him and danger, he will marry you. Then you will, perhaps, be obliged to ask his consent in order to accept my gift. I hope that he will not refuse it. One is not jealous of the dead!
“Besides, he knows well that you have scarcely vouchsafed a glance to the poor peasant who has loved you so much.
“Do not be offended at anything I have said, I am in such agony that I cannot weigh my words.
“Adieu, adieu, Marie-Anne.
“Chanlouineau.”
Maurice also read twice, before handing it back, this letter whose every word palpitated with sublime passion.