--She's light-hearted, she's virtuous, she's a
hard worker, she's affectionate, and she's amusing.--I don't see what
more one could ask.
"But what business have I to think of all that?" resumed Germain, trying
to look in another direction. "My father-in-law wouldn't listen to it,
and the whole family would treat me as a madman! Besides, she herself
wouldn't have me, poor child!--She thinks I am too old: she told me so.
She isn't interested; it doesn't worry her much to think of being in
want and misery, of wearing poor clothes and suffering with hunger two
or three months in the year, provided that she satisfies her heart some
day and can give herself to a husband who suits her--and she's right,
too! I would do the same in her place--and at this moment, if I could
follow my own will, instead of embarking on a marriage that I don't
like the idea of, I would choose a girl to my taste."
The more Germain strove to argue with himself and calm himself, the less
he succeeded. He walked twenty steps away, to lose himself in the mist;
and then he suddenly found himself on his knees beside the two sleeping
children. Once he even tried to kiss Petit-Pierre, who had one arm
around Marie's neck, and he went so far astray that Marie, feeling a
breath as hot as fire upon her lips, awoke and looked at him in terror,
understanding nothing of what was taking place within him.
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