Tears rolled from her veiled eyes to her pale cheeks, which she hastened to wipe away.
–Don't say that, Maria, don't think it," I said; "no, I beg you.
–But I heard about it, and then I didn't know about myself.... Why, then?
–Look, I beg you, I… I… Will you allow me to command you to speak no more of it?
She had dropped her forehead on the arm on which she was leaning, and whose hand I was clasping in mine, when I heard in the next room the rustle of Emma's clothes approaching.
That evening at dinner time my sisters and I were in the dining room waiting for my parents, who took longer than usual. At last they were heard talking in the drawing-room, as if ending an important conversation. My father's noble physiognomy showed, in the slight contraction of the extremities of his lips, and in the little wrinkle between his brows, that he had just had a moral struggle which had upset him. My mother was pale, but without making the least effort to appear calm, she said to me as she sat down at the table:
–I hadn't remembered to tell you that José came to see us this morning and to invite you to a hunt; but when he heard the news, he promised to come back very early tomorrow morning. Do you know if it's true that one of his daughters is getting married?
–He will try to consult you about his project," my father remarked absently.
–It's probably a bear hunt," I replied.
–Of bears? What! Do you hunt bears?
–Yes, sir; it's a funny hunt I've done with him a few times.
–In my country," said my father, "they would think you a barbarian or a hero.
–And yet such a game is less dangerous than that of deer, which is made every day and everywhere; for the former, instead of requiring the hunters to tumble unwittingly through heather and waterfalls, requires only a little agility and accurate marksmanship.
My father, his countenance no longer showing its former frown, spoke of the way deer were hunted in Jamaica, and of how fond his relatives had been of this kind of pastime, Solomon being distinguished among them for his tenacity, skill, and enthusiasm, of whom he told us, with a laugh, some anecdotes.
As we got up from the table, he came up to me and said:
–Your mother and I have something to talk over with you; come to my room later.
As I entered the room, my father was writing with his back to my mother, who was in the less well-lit part of the room, sitting in the armchair she always sat in whenever she stopped there.
–Sit down," he said, stopping his writing for a moment and looking at me over the white glass and gold-rimmed mirrors.
After a few minutes, having carefully put back the account book in which he was writing, he moved a seat nearer to the one I was sitting on, and in a low voice spoke thus:
–I wanted your mother to be present at this conversation, because it is a serious matter on which she has the same opinion as I have.
He went to the door to open it and throw away the cigar he was smoking, and continued in this manner:
–You have been with us three months now, and it is only after two more that Mr. A*** will be able to start on his journey to Europe, and it is with him that you must go. This delay, in a certain degree, means nothing, both because it is very agreeable to us to have you with us after six years' absence, to be followed by others, and because I note with pleasure that even here, study is one of your favourite pleasures. I cannot conceal from you, nor must I, that I have conceived great hopes, from your character and aptitudes, that you will crown the career you are about to pursue with brilliancy. You are not unaware that the family will soon need your support, and all the more so after the death of your brother.
