"No, they will grow even darker," she said.
"No, no, everything will come all right; make your mind easy," said Pierre. "There can be no hesitation between a reparation which brings nothing but pleasure in its train, and a terrible vengeance. Your lover will come back to you; you will be his wife—"
"But suppose I refuse to marry him?" cried Babette. Jean Peuquoy could not forbear a joyous movement, which did not escape Gabriel's notice.
"Refuse to marry him!" exclaimed Pierre, surprised beyond measure. "Why, you loved him!"
"Yes, I did love him," said Babette; "for he was suffering; besides he seemed to love me, and showed respect and tenderness for me. But the man who deceived me, who lied to me and abandoned me, who appropriated the language, the name, and perhaps the very clothes of another, to lay siege to and surprise a poor, trusting heart—ah, that man I hate and I despise!"
"But if he were willing to marry you?" said Pierre. "It would only be because he was driven to do it, or because he hoped for favors from the Duc de Guise. He would bestow his name upon me either from fear or avarice. No, no, I pray I may never see him again!"
"Babette," replied Pierre, sternly; "you have no right to say, 'I pray I may never see him again.'"
"My dear brother, for mercy's sake! for pity's sake!" cried Babette, weeping piteously, "do not force me to marry a man whom you have yourself called a villain and a coward."
"Babette, think of your dishonored name!"
"I prefer to blush a moment for my misplaced love rather than to blush for my husband all my life."