"Is it possible? Can it be that you forgive me again?"
"Yes, my friend, I must. Look—at that scar—the burn on your wrist—— You see that I must forgive you always!"
"Great God! I am afraid that my happiness is a dream."
"No, monsieur. Lucien came just now and told me how sad and unhappy you were. I thought that you were punished enough, so I came. Did I do wrong?"
"Oh! how good you are! Really I do not deserve to be loved like this!"
"Are you going to begin again?"
"Oh! this time, Nathalie, I swear——"
"Don't swear! Believe me, oaths amount to nothing. It ought not to be necessary to promise, in order to do what is right."
And now, readers, do you wish to know what has become of the small number of persons who have played a part in this simple study of contemporary manners?
First, Dubotté has continued to be perfectly content; his wife is no longer constantly clinging to his arm, but lets him go out alone as much as he pleases. Sometimes, indeed, she refuses to go with him; she has taken a great fancy to the game of bézique, and young Callé is always ready to come and play with her.