"I was determined at any cost to get out of my responsibility.
"I said: 'You must go and join him immediately.'
"She reddened to her very temples, and with downcast eyes, murmured: 'Yes—but—' She either dared not or would not finish the sentence.
"I understood, and I prudently enclosed her in an envelope the expenses of the journey.
"Eight days later, she sent me a letter from Genoa. The following week, I received one from Florence. Then letters reached me from Leghorn, Rome, and Naples.
"She said to me: 'I am in good health, my dear love, but I am looking frightful. I would not care to have you see me till it is all over; you would not love me. My husband suspects nothing. As his business in this country will require him to stay there much longer, I will not return to France till after my confinement.'
"And, at the end of about eight months, I received from Venice these few words: 'It is a boy.'
"Some time after, she suddenly entered my study one morning, fresher and prettier than ever, and flung herself into my arms.
"And our former connection was renewed.