"I do, mademoiselle."
"Very well. I will never willingly see Gerald again while I live, unless Madame de Senneterre, his mother, comes here—"
"Here?" exclaimed Olivier, in astonishment.
"Yes, unless Madame la Duchesse de Senneterre comes here and tells me that she consents to my marriage with her son. Then, no one can ever say that I forced myself upon this noble family."
This demand—which seemed and which was, in fact, merely the natural outcome of an intense but laudable pride—Herminie uttered simply and naturally, because, filled with a justly high respect for herself, the young girl felt that she asked only what was her just due.
But at the first thought, this demand seemed to Olivier so exorbitant that, in his astonishment, he could not help saying:
"Madame de Senneterre—come here—to tell you that she consents to your marriage with her son,—why, what are you thinking of, Mlle. Herminie? That exceeds the bounds of possibility!"
"And why, monsieur?" asked the young girl, with such ingenuous pride that Olivier, remembering how generous and noble Herminie's character and love were, replied, with no little embarrassment:
"You ask why Madame de Senneterre can not come here to tell you that she consents to your marriage with her son?"
"Yes, monsieur."