A sweet perfume was exhaled from it.
He opened it with a trembling hand.
That strange intuition of the heart which is named presentiment, told him that it came from Suzanne.
Pale with emotion he read:
"MONSIEUR L'ABBÉ,
"I do not wish the day to pass without coming to ask your pardon for my father's conduct towards you, and assure you that he does not think a single one of his wicked words.
"Do not keep, I pray, an evil memory of me, and believe that I should he grieved if a single doubt were to remain in your mind as to the sympathy and respect which you inspire in
"Suzanne Durand.
"P.S. I have much need of your counsels."
Marcel, full of a delicious trouble, read and re-read this letter. He did not take careful note of his sensations, but he felt an ineffable joy overflow his heart, and at the same time a vague anxiety.