"Genevieve, Genevieve, why am I here?"
Her eyes shone with a wild light. She seemed to be absolutely exalted.
"He loves me, he loves me…."
"And I love him." And she threw herself in her friend's arms. "I am as happy as you now, for I love…. The thick cloud that hung over everything is gone. Everything is bright and beautiful. This dark grove is sparkling with sunlight and…?"
Genevieve stopped her.
"Little sister, you are raving. Your pulse is racing with fever. We must go back. Think of poor Albert."
Esperance drew herself up proudly, replying, "I will never betray him,
I will tell the truth, and I will become the wife of the Duke."
"You are talking wildly, dearest, the Duke will not marry you."
"He will marry me, I swear it!"
"Albert will enter the Chartist Monastery and the Countess Styvens will die of sorrow."