From that day, Renaud, being sincerely in love, exerted himself to please. He was careful about his dress, paid more attention to the adjustment of his neckerchief, shaved more closely, and had not a single glance to spare for the other girls, even the prettiest of them.
At last, he said to Livette one day:
“Your father will never be willing!”
Those were his first words of love.
“If I am willing, my father will be. And when my father is willing, grandmother always is!”
“The good God grant it!” replied Jacques.
And it had happened as she said. For almost five months now they had been betrothed.
The fascinating thing about Livette was that she was just the opposite of Renaud, so slender and delicate, so fair and such a child,—and, furthermore, that she loved him with all her might, the sweetheart,—there was no mistake about that.