"Yes, my God! I accept the sacrifice, and I sacrifice him for my father. Save him, Lord, save him!"
Two days later they buried poor Maurice, the whole village attending his funeral.
The same evening the priest, who had been with him in his last moments, presented himself to Madame de Laval, and said:
"You are afflicted, but your prayers are heard. Divine grace has pursued your father, and this very morning, when the body of your child was yet in the house, he called me to him and made his confession. He could hold out no longer, he said to me. Rejoice then, madam, in the midst of your grief."
She did indeed rejoice, though she still wept.
"O Aloyse," said she, "and my dear Maurice! They are then taken away, but at what a price!" "Thank God!" cried the priest. "He separates a family here only to reunite them in eternity!"