第37章

Sheinsisted，however，onhistakingatleastthechain，andLheureuxhadalreadyputitinhispocketandwasgoing，whenshecalledhimback。

“Youwillleaveeverythingatyourplace。Astothecloak“——sheseemedtobereflecting——“donotbringiteither；youcangivemethemaker’saddress，andtellhimtohaveitreadyforme。“

Itwasthenextmonththattheyweretorunaway。ShewastoleaveYonvilleasifshewasgoingonsomebusinesstoRouen。

Rodolphewouldhavebookedtheseats，procuredthepassports，andevenhavewrittentoParisinordertohavethewholemail-coachreservedforthemasfarasMarseilles，wheretheywouldbuyacarriage，andgoonthencewithoutstoppingtoGenoa。ShewouldtakecaretosendherluggagetoLheureuxwhenceitwouldbetakendirecttothe“Hirondelle，“sothatnoonewouldhaveanysuspicion。Andinallthisthereneverwasanyallusiontothechild。Rodolpheavoidedspeakingofher；perhapshenolongerthoughtaboutit。

Hewishedtohavetwomoreweeksbeforehimtoarrangesomeaffairs；thenattheendofaweekhewantedtwomore；thenhesaidhewasill；nexthewentonajourney。ThemonthofAugustpassed，and，afterallthesedelays，theydecidedthatitwastobeirrevocablyfixedforthe4thSeptember——aMonday。

AtlengththeSaturdaybeforearrived。

Rodolphecameintheeveningearlierthanusual。

“Everythingisready？“sheaskedhim。

“Yes。“

Thentheywalkedroundagarden-bed，andwenttositdownneartheterraceonthekerb-stoneofthewall。

“Youaresad，“saidEmma。

“No；why？“

Andyethelookedatherstrangelyinatenderfashion。

“Itisbecauseyouaregoingaway？“shewenton；“becauseyouareleavingwhatisdeartoyou——yourlife？Ah!Iunderstand。Ihavenothingintheworld!youarealltome；soshallIbetoyou。I

willbeyourpeople，yourcountry；Iwilltend，Iwillloveyou!“

“Howsweetyouare!“hesaid，seizingherinhisarms。

“Really!“shesaidwithavoluptuouslaugh。“Doyouloveme？

Swearitthen!“

“DoIloveyou——loveyou？Iadoreyou，mylove。“

Themoon，fullandpurple-coloured，wasrisingrightoutoftheearthattheendofthemeadow。Sherosequicklybetweenthebranchesofthepoplars，thathidherhereandtherelikeablackcurtainpiercedwithholes。Thensheappeareddazzlingwithwhitenessintheemptyheavensthatshelitup，andnowsailingmoreslowlyalong，letfallupontheriveragreatstainthatbrokeupintoaninfinityofstars；andthesilversheenseemedtowrithethroughtheverydepthslikeaheedlessserpentcoveredwithluminousscales；italsoresembledsomemonstercandelabraallalongwhichsparkleddropsofdiamondsrunningtogether。Thesoftnightwasaboutthem；massesofshadowfilledthebranches。

Emma，hereyeshalfclosed，breathedinwithdeepsighsthefreshwindthatwasbl