"You have succeeded in rising, my elder brother?" said Prudence. "You will fatigue yourself."
"That is no matter," he answered, making a deep obeisance before her whom he believed to be his wife.
"Ten thousand happinesses be with you!" Yu-lang graciously replied.
"What an exquisite pair!" cried the wife of Liu, proud of her son and happy at his fortune.
The false bride's beauty was meanwhile strangely reviving the invalid's vitality. And the other lad thought:
"He is a fine boy in spite of his illness: there is no need to pity my sister. But if he can get up, he will waste no time in coming to spend the night with me. I must depart as quickly as possible."
When evening came, he explained his fears to Prudence.
"It is quite necessary to persuade your mother to send me back to my home, that I may change places with my sister. Everything will be discovered if we delay."
"You wish to go? But what will become of me alone?"
"I have already thought of that. Alas. Alas! But we are both betrothed to another. What can we do?"