"Exactly; it would seem as if I asked a recompense."
"Asked a recompense! And do I not owe you one? Did you not take care of me, night and day, during my sickness last year?"
"Are you not my Martial?"
"Then you should speak to me frankly, because I am your Martial, and will be always."
"Always, Martial?"
"Always! true as I am called Martial. For me, there shall be no other woman in the world but you, La Louve No matter what you have been— that's my lookout. I love you—you love me; and I owe my life to you. But since you have been in prison, I am no longer the same; much has happened; I have reflected; and you shall no more be what you have been."
"What do you mean to say?"
"I never wish to leave you again. Neither do I wish to leave Francois and Amandine."
"Your little brother and sister?"
"Yes; from this day I must be to them a father—you comprehend. This gives me duties to perform, and tames me. I am obliged to take charge of them. They wished to make finished thieves of them; to save them, I shall take them away."