always on him! Yes, you are right, Maximilian, I will follow you. I
will leave the paternal home, I will give up all. Oh, ungrateful
girl that I am," cried Valentine, sobbing, "I will give up all,
even my dear old grandfather, whom I had nearly forgotten."
"No," said Maximilian, "you shall not leave him. M. Noirtier has
evinced, you say, a kind feeling towards me. Well, before you
leave, tell him all; his consent would be your justification in
God's sight. As soon as we are married, he shall come and live with
us, instead of one child, he shall have two. You have told me how
you talk to him and how he answers you; I shall very soon learn
that language by signs, Valentine, and I promise you solemnly, that
instead of despair, it is happiness that awaits us."
"Oh, see, Maximilian, see the power you have over me, you almost
make me believe you; and yet, what you tell me is madness, for my
father will curse me — he is inflexible — he will never pardon me.
Now listen to me, Maximilian; if by artifice, by entreaty, by
accident — in short, if by any means I can delay this marriage,
will you wait?"
"Yes, I promise you, as faithfully as you have promised me that
this horrible marriage shall not take place, and that if you are
dragged before a magistrate or a priest, you will refuse."
"I promise you by all that is most sacred to me in the world,
namely, by my mother."
"We will wait, then," said Morrel.
"Yes, we will wait," replied Valentine, who revived at these
words; "there are so many things which may save unhappy beings such
as we are."
"I rely on you, Valentine," said Morrel; "all you do will be
well done; only if they disregard your prayers, if your father and
Madame de Saint-Meran insist that M. d'Epinay should be called
to-morrow to sign the contract" —
"Then you have my promise, Maximilian."
"Instead of signing" —
"I will go to you, and we will fly; but from this moment until
then, let us not tempt providence, let us not see each other. It is
a miracle, it is a providence that we have not been discovered. Ifa miracle, it is a providence that we have not been discovered. If
we were surprised, if it were known that we met thus, we should
have no further resource."
"You are right, Valentine; but how shall I ascertain?"
"From the notary, M. Deschamps."
"I know him."
"And for myself — I will write to you, depend on me. I dread
this marriage, Maximilian, as much as you."
"Thank you, my adored Valentine, thank you; that is enough. When
once I know the hour, I will hasten to this spot, you can easily
get over this fence with my assistance, a carriage will await us at
the gate, in which you will accompany me to my sister's; there
living, retired or mingling in society, as you wish, we shall be
enabled to use our power to resist oppression, and not suffer
ourselves to be put to death like sheep, which only defend
themselves by sighs."
"Yes," said Valentine, "I will now acknowledge you are right,
Maximilian; and now are you satisfied with your betrothal?" said
the young girl sorrowfully.
"My adored Valentine, words cannot express one half of my
satisfaction." Valentine had approached, or rather, had placed her
lips so near the fence, that they nearly touched those of Morrel,
which were pressed against the other side of the cold and
inexorable barrier. "Adieu, then, till we meet again," said
Valentine, tearing herself away. "I shall hear from you?"
"Yes."
"Thanks, thanks, dear love, adieu!" The sound of a kiss was
heard, and Valentine fled through the avenue. Morrel listened to
catch the last sound of her dress brushing the branches, and of her
footstep on the gravel, then raised his eyes with an ineffable
smile of thankfulness to heaven for being permitted to be thus
loved, and then also disappeared. The young man returned home and
waited all the evening and all the next day without getting any
message. It was only on the following day, at about ten o'clock in
the morning, as he was starting to call on M. Deschamps, the
notary, that he received from the postman a small billet, which henotary, that he received from the postman a small billet, which he
knew to be from Valentine, although he had not before seen her
writing. It was to this effect: —
Tears, entreaties, prayers, have availed me nothing. Yesterday,
for two hours, I was at the church of Saint-Phillippe du Roule, and
for two hours I prayed most fervently. Heaven is as inflexible as
man, and the signature of the contract is fixed for this evening at
nine o'clock. I have but one promise and but one heart to give;
that promise is pledged to you, that heart is also yours. This
evening, then, at a quarter to nine at the gate.
Your betrothed,
Valentine de Villefort.
P.S. — My poor grandmother gets worse and worse; yesterday her
fever amounted to delirium; to-day her delirium is almost madness.
You will be very kind to me, will you not, Morrel, to make me
forget my sorrow in leaving her thus? I think it is kept a secret
from grandpapa Noirtier, that the contract is to be signed this
evening.
Morrel went also to the notary, who confirmed the news that the
contract was to be signed that evening. Then he went to call on
Monte Cristo and heard still more. Franz had been to announce the
ceremony, and Madame de Villefort had also written to beg the count
to excuse her not inviting him; the death of M. de Saint-Meran and
the dangerous illness of his widow would cast a gloom over the
meeting which she would regret should be shared by the count whom
she wished every happiness. The day before Franz had been presented
to Madame de Saint-Meran, who had left her bed to receive him, but
had been obliged to return to it immediately after. It is easy to
suppose that Morrel's agitation would not escape the count's
penetrating eye. Monte Cristo was more affectionate than ever, —
indeed, his manner was so kind that several times Morrel was on the
point of telling him all. But he recalled the promise he had made
to Valentine, and kept his secret.
The young man read Valentine's letter twenty times in the course