"At last you have come," she said, throwing her arms round my neck. "But how pale you are!"
I told her of the scene with my father.
"My God! I was afraid of it," she said. "When Joseph came to tell you of your father's arrival I trembled as if he had brought news of some misfortune. My poor friend, I am the cause of all your distress. You will be better off, perhaps, if you leave me and do not quarrel with your father on my account. He knows that you are sure to have a mistress, and he ought to be thankful that it is I, since I love you and do not want more of you than your position allows. Did you tell him how we had arranged our future?"
"Yes; that is what annoyed him the most, for he saw how much we really love one another."
"What are we to do, then?"
"Hold together, my good Margue
