"No, you cannot forget her. And I, I do not want to owe my happiness to her sacrifice. I have tried ever since your return. I cannot."
Surprised and dismayed by this mysterious allusion, he asked her:
"Her sacrifice? What sacrifice? I don't understand."
"That is quite right. You cannot understand."
And in the same frightened and compelling voice, she added this vague warning:
"You will understand to-night. You will choose to-night."
She would give him no other explanation. They had to go back to the forest house. They took the children and returned to Saint-Martin d'Uriage. The return was as dreary as the journey there had been gay. The children instinctively shared the sadness of their parents, who did not exchange a word. They guessed that they were again at variance. And Marie Louise, at a turn in the road, even went up to her father to ask him:
"Papa, you are not going away again?"
She received no answer. Deep in thought and absentminded, Albert did not lead the way. The day was fading. At this season, the days are so short. Below, the darkness which filled the depth of the valleys, was beginning to ascend the mountains, dispersing the rays of the sun. On coming out of the Prémol forest, the orchards and chestnut groves presented sheaf bouquets, made up of golden or copper leaves. The procession, which had gone along without a leader, came to a short cut, and found they were lost.
"Where are we?" asked Elizabeth.