"Yes, mother; and I swear to you that it will not be I who will cause you sorrow."
"My dear Frederick," said David, smiling, "you know that I am not an ordinary preceptor, and that I love to take the fields for my study-hall; the weather is quite fine this morning, suppose we go out for a walk."
Frederick started imperceptibly.
Then he replied, immediately:
"I am at your service, M. David."
And turning to Madame Bastien, he said:
"Good-bye, mother!" and embraced the young woman.
It is impossible to describe what Madame Bastien felt when she heard the words, "Good-bye, mother."
These words which, the night before, whether illusion or reality, had filled her heart with such gloomy forebodings!
Marie thought, too, that her son, so to speak, made his kisses linger longer than was his habit, and that his hand that she held trembled in her own.