At the sight of this man, Marie, as we have said, felt for a moment her courage give way.
But, reflecting that the excited state in which M. Bastien was, only rendered him more passionate, and more intractable, that he would not hesitate at any violence or outburst of temper, and that then the intervention of David and Frederick would, unfortunately, become inevitable, the young woman, brave as she always was, thanked Heaven that her son had heard nothing, seized the lamp on the chimneypiece, returned to her husband, who stood immovable on the threshold, and said to him in a low voice:
"Let us go in the library, monsieur. I am afraid, as I told you, of waking my son."
M. Bastien appeared to take counsel with himself before yielding to Marie's desire.
After several minutes' hesitation, during which the young woman almost died of anguish, the Hercules replied:
"Well, to come to the point, I prefer that; come, go on before me."
Marie, preceding Jacques Bastien in the corridor, soon entered the library.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
MADAME BASTIEN, whose heart was beating violently, set the lamp on the chimneypiece in the library, and said to her husband:
"What do you wish, monsieur?"