Gentle little Madame Darbois sat up proudly, and Esperance looked at her father with a world of tenderness in her eyes.
"But, my lad," pursued Adhemar, swelling with conviction, "your uncle might well have made a fortune at machinery, while, as it is, he has just managed to exist."
"We are very happy"--Madame Darbois slipped in her word.
Esperance had bounded out of her chair, and from behind her father encircled his head with her arms. "Oh! yes, very happy," she murmured in a low voice, "and you would not, darling papa, spoil the harmony of our life together?"
"Remember, my dear little Esperance, what I said to your mother concerned only men--now we are considering the future of a young girl, and that is a graver matter!"
"Because men are better armed against the struggle, and life is, alas, one eternal combat."
"The armour of the intellect is the same for a young girl as for a young man."
Adhemar shook his shoulders impatiently. Seeing that he was getting angry and was like to explode, Esperance cried out, "Wait, godfather, you must let me try to convince my parents. Suppose, father, that I had chosen the same career as Maurice. What different armour should I need?"
François listened to his daughter affectionately, drawing her closer to him. "Understand me, my dearie. I am not denying your wish as a proof of my parental authority. No, remember this is the second time that you have expressed your will in the matter of the choice of your career. The first time I asked you to consider it for six months: The six months having passed, you now place me under the obligation of--"
"But that is it," he went on, playing with her pretty hair, "you have put me under the obligation of answering you definitely; and I have called this family council because I have not the courage, nor, perhaps, the right, to stand in your way--the way you wish to go."
Adhemar made a violent effort to leap to his feet, declaiming in his heavy voice, "Yes, François, you must try and prevent her from going this way, the most evil, the most perilous above all, for a woman."
Esperance began to tremble, but she stood resolutely away from her father, holding herself rigid with her arms hanging straight at her sides. The rose tint of her cheeks had disappeared and her blue eyes were dimmed with shadows.