"Say you so? then I invite him with all my heart," she said, with a bitter pleasantry; "he can't be a great deal worse than the society I have sometimes had to share; and, if he discloses the futurity that awaits me, he will have been the most instructive companion that fortune ever lent me."
"Chut! madame, listen."
"What is the matter, Marguerite?"
"Did not you hear?"
"What?—whom?"
"There—there again; blessed Virgin shield us!"
"Psha! Marguerite; it is nothing but the moths flying against the window-panes; I have heard that little tapping a hundred times."
"Well, well, maybe so; but say your prayers, my dear, and ask forgiveness for your foolish words."
"No, Marguerite; for in truth I do wish my fortune were read to me, and care not by whom."
"Hey, what's that? Chut! in Heaven's name hold thy mad tongue," she cried, in the irritation of panic; "surely that is no moth. May the saints guard your bed, my child. You heard it, did you not?"