"Yes, I look forward with pleasure to going there again. You are a relative of the farmer, I suppose?"
"No, madame, my comrade is their cousin, but I am only an old soldier, without family or acquaintances, whom they have been good enough to supply with work."
"I am sure that they congratulate themselves upon it every day.--You are still young, you cannot have served very long?"
"I beg your pardon, I enlisted very early."
"And on your return from the army you had no mother, no sister, to take care of you and to make you forget the fatigues of war?"
"No, madame. I have only one relative, and he treated me with so little affection! I am proud, I have a keen sense of honor, and I rejected assistance which was not offered by the heart, and which would have humiliated me."
"That must have been some distant relative?"
"My husband has a brother. By the way, his name is Jacques as yours is. He left his family many years ago; he is dead, no doubt, but if he were still alive, if he should return--oh! I am very sure that Edouard would be overjoyed to see him."
Jacques made no reply; but he turned his head aside to conceal a tear that dropped from his eyes.
At that moment they arrived at Murville's house. Adeline urged Jacques to come in and rest for a few moments; but he declined; he was afraid of yielding to his emotions, and of betraying himself.
"At least," said the young woman, "when you come to Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, I hope that you will come to see me. I will show you the gardens which you saw only through the gate."
"With pleasure, madame; and I urge you not to forget the farm."
Adeline promised and Jacques went away, after casting a last glance at the house.
"That is a fine fellow," said Adeline, as she entered the house, "and mamma and I judged him very unjustly. I am sure that that rough and stern exterior conceals a sensitive and honest heart. Ah! appearances are often deceitful!"
Some time after, Adeline went to the farm one morning, followed by her nurse, a stout country girl, who carried her child. The villagers received her joyfully; Adeline was so amiable, so sweet, so simple with the people at the farm, that they were quite at their ease with her. Guillot began sentences that never ended; Louise played with little Ermance; Sans-Souci swore that he had never seen such a lovely woman in the regiment, and Jacques manifested the greatest regard for the young woman, and the deepest interest; his attentions to Adeline were so considerate, his manners so respectful, that she did not know how to interpret his affecting yet mysterious conduct; but there was in Jacques's eyes an expression at which no one could take offence; only interest and affection could be read in them, and her heart was moved by those same sentiments, although she could not understand them.
