Page:Clermont - Roche (1798, volume 2).djvu/19

This page needs to be proofread.

never, never, shall I cease to regret it. Permit me, (he added) to leave you near the house, the way to it is solitary, I will then depart."

"No, (replied Madeline) there is no danger in my going alone; besides, if I permitted you to accompany me, I should bring you out of your way: for this path near the grotto is the shortest one to the road."

"Farewell, then (cried he, pressing her hand to his cold lips, ) farewell, (he repeated as he resigned it, ) but as this is the last time we shall probably ever meet, let me have the comfort of hearing from you, that you do not utterly detest me for the uneasiness I have caused you."

Madeline attempted to speak, but her voice was lost in the emotions of her soul, and she hung her head to conceal the tears which trickled down her cheeks. They did not, however, escape the penetrating eyes of de Sevignie: he again took her hand, "I cannot leave you, (said he) "in this