"Where did this happen?"
"At my cousin's."
"Does she know the two girls?"
"Oh, yes; she was a friend of their mother's."
"Ah! Now I understand," cried the professor. "Your cousin received your sighs. She has been your confidante! That's why you never said anything to me."
The judge smiled, but his poor friend felt a little jealous of this cousin.
"Why didn't you propose for her hand just as soon as you knew she liked you?" the professor continued.
"I did, a week ago; I requested my cousin to call on Mr. Mitrophanis, but—"
"But what? Where could he find a better son-in-law? He didn't refuse you, surely?"
"No, he did not refuse, but he made a condition that can be fulfilled—Heaven knows when! In the meanwhile he does not wish us to meet. I had not seen her for ten days, even at a distance, and you can understand with what emotion just now I—"