"The miserable fellow has lied shamefully to you," cried Emile, "and you can safely turn him away with contempt. He has no fortune, and my father rescued him from absolute destitution. Now, he has only been in his employ three years, and unless he has suddenly received some mysterious legacy——"
"No, Emile, no, he has told no lie; I am not so weak and credulous as you think. I questioned him and I know that the source of his little fortune is pure and unquestionable. Your father has promised him twenty thousand francs, in order to attach him permanently to his service by affection and gratitude, in case he marries in the province."
"But," said Emile in a trembling voice, "my father certainly cannot know that he has presumed to raise his eyes to Mademoiselle de Châteaubrun, for he would not have encouraged him in such a hope."
"On the contrary," rejoined Monsieur Antoine, to whom the affair seemed perfectly natural, "he has confided to your father his liking for Gilberte, and your father authorized him to use his name in support of his offer of marriage."
Gilberte turned deathly pale and looked at Emile, who lowered his eyes, stupefied, humiliated, and wounded to his heart's core.
XXV
THE EXPLOSION
"Well, well, what's the matter?" said Janille, joining them under a rustic arbor near the orchard, where they were sitting, all three; "why is Gilberte so woebegone, and why do you all keep quiet when I come near, as if you were plotting some conspiracy?"
Gilberte threw herself in her nurse's arms and burst into tears.
"Well, well," continued the good little woman, "here's something else! My little girl is unhappy and I don't know what the matter is! Will you speak, Monsieur Antoine?"