“He murmured: 'Well, that's all, M'sieu le Baron. I could not help it, one way or the other—and now it's all over!'
“I caught his hand across the table, and I began to weep.
“He asked, 'Will you come and see her grave?' I nodded assent, for I couldn't speak. He rose, lighted a lantern, and we walked through the blinding rain by the light of the lantern.
“He opened a gate, and I saw some crosses of black wood.
“Suddenly he stopped before a marble slab and said: 'There it is,' and he flashed the lantern close to it so that I could read the inscription:
“'TO LOUISE HORTENSE MARINET, “'Wife of Jean-Francois Lebrument, Farmer, “'SHE WAS A FAITHFUL WIFE. GOD REST HER SOUL.'
“We fell on our knees in the damp grass, he and I, with the lantern between us, and I saw the rain beating on the white marble slab. And I thought of the heart of her sleeping there in her grave. Ah! poor heart! poor heart! Since then I come here every year. And I don't know why, but I feel as if I were guilty of some crime in the presence of this man who always looks as if he forgave me.”
THE DEVIL
The peasant and the doctor stood on opposite sides of the bed, beside the old, dying woman. She was calm and resigned and her mind quite clear as she looked at them and listened to their conversation. She was going to die, and she did not rebel at it, for her time was come, as she was ninety-two.