A pause; then with a new, yet still subdued inflexion of the voice—an inflexion which provoked while it pleased me—accompanied, too, by a "sourire à la fois fin et timide" in perfect harmony with the tone:—
"C'est à dire, monsieur sera toujours un peu entêté, exigeant, volontaire———?"
"Have I been so, Frances?"
"Mais oui; vous le savez bien."
"Have I been nothing else?"
"Mais oui; you avez été mon meilleur ami."
"And what, Frances, are you to me?"
"Votre dévouée élève, qui vous aime de tout son cœur."
"Will my pupil consent to pass her life with me? Speak English now, Frances."
Some moments were taken for reflection; the answer, pronounced slowly, ran thus:—
"You have always made me happy; I like to hear you speak; I like to see you; I like to be near you; I believe you are very
