"P.S. Can you tell me, is the captain of noble birth? I have never had any doubt of it, he is so splendid."
It filled me with a great happiness and a bitter pang. I was never in such a conflict of emotion.
"Well," said Therese, "do you see my trouble? Having shown you the first letter, I had also to show you the second. I fear I have done wrong. My soul—"
"Be blessed for the good tidings," I interrupted.
"Thanks. I was going to say it accuses me. Louison is a proud girl; she must never know. She can never know unless—"
"You tell her," said I, quickly. "And of course you will."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"That every secret that must not be told is the same as published if—if—"
"If what?"
"If—if it tells a pretty story with some love in it," I said, with a quick sense of caution. "Ah, ma'm'selle, do I not know what has made your lips so red?"