"No, Mario; you are much more sensible and attractive than other boys of your age, and you already know more than I do, in the studies we have together."
"Tell me, Lauriane, do you think me nicer than your other husband?"
"I must not say that, Mario. He was my husband, and you are not."
"Did you love him because he was your husband?"
"I cannot say; I did not love him much when he was only my cousin; I thought him too wild and too fond of making a disturbance. But when they took us to the Reformed Church together and said to us: 'Now you are married; you will not see each other again for seven or eight years, but it is your duty to love each other;' I answered: 'Very well;' and I prayed for my husband every day, asking God to do me the favor to make me love him when I should see him again."
"And you never saw him again! Were you grieved when he died?"
"Yes, Mario. He was my cousin, and I wept for him."
"And so if I should die, who am neither your cousin nor your husband, you wouldn't weep for me?"
"You must not talk about dying, Mario," said Lauriane; "they say that it brings bad luck when one is young. I don't want you to die, and I say again that I love you dearly."
"But you won't promise me when I shall be your husband?"