"La Fromentière cannot go on as it is now," resumed the farmer. "I have bidden Rousille take a message to the Michelonnes. One or the other of the sisters, whether it be Adelaide or Véronique matters not, is to go to the Bocage to bring back Jean Nesmy."
"Ah! you are marrying Rousille?"
"Yes, my friend."
"To a dismissed farm-servant!"
"I am taking him back."
"A Boquin! A man not of these parts!"
"A good worker, Mathurin, and one who always loved our soil."
"And he is to live at La Fromentière?"
"Of course. I need help. I need a son to stand by me."
Mathurin's tawny head was thrust out from darkness.