'I love you, Albine,' said Serge.

 

'Serge, I love you,' Albine answered.

 

And never before had those syllables 'I love you' had for them so supreme a meaning. They expressed everything. Joy pervaded those young lovers, who had attained to the fulness of life. They felt that they were now on a footing of equality with the forces of the world; and with their happiness mingled the placid conviction that they had obeyed the universal law. And Serge seemed to have awakened to life, lion-like, to rule the whole far expanse under the free heavens. His feet planted themselves more firmly on the ground, his chest expanded, there was pride and confidence in his gait and demeanour. He took Albine by the hands, she was trembling, and he was obliged to support her.

 

'Don't be afraid,' he said; 'you are she whom I love.'

 

It was Albine now who had become the submissive one. She drooped her head upon his shoulder, glancing up at him with anxious scrutiny. Would he never bear her spite for that hour of adoration in which he had called himself her slave? But he smiled, and stroked her hair, while she said to him: 'Let me stay like this, in your arms, for I cannot walk without you. I will make myself so small and light, that you will scarcely know I am there.' Then becoming very serious she added, 'You must always love me; and I will be very obedient and do whatever you wish. I will yield to you in all things if you but love me.'

 

Serge felt more powerful and virile on seeing her so humble. 'Why are you trembling so?' he asked her; 'I can have no cause to reproach you.'

 

But she did not answer him, she gazed almost sadly upon the tree and the foliage and the grass around them.

 

'Foolish child!' he said, laughing; 'are you afraid that I shall be angry with you for your love? We have loved as we were meant to love. Let me kiss you.'

 

But, dropping her eyelids so that she might not see the tree, she said, in a low whisper, 'Take me away!'

 

Serge led her thence, pacing slowly and giving one last glance at the spot which love had hallowed. The shadows in the clearing were growing darker, and a gentle quiver coursed through the foliage. When they emerged from the wood and caught sight of the sun, still shining brightly in the horizon, they felt easier. Everything around Serge now seemed to bend down before him and pay homage to his love. The garden was now nothing but an appanage of Albine's beauty, and seemed to have grown larger and fairer amid the love-kisses of its rulers.

 

But Albine's joy was still tinged with disquietude. She would suddenly pause amid her laughter and listen anxiously.

 

'What is the matter?' asked Serge.

 

'Nothing,' she replied, casting furtive glances behind her.

 

They did not know in what out-of-the-way corner of the park they were. To lose themselves in their capricious wanderings only served to amuse them as a rule; but that day they experienced anxious embarrassment. By degrees they quickened their pace, plunging more and more deeply into a labyrinth of bushes.

 

'Don't you hear?' asked Albine, nervously, as she suddenly stopped short, almost breathless.

 

Serge listened, a prey, in his turn, to the anxiety which the girl could no longer conceal.

 

'All the coppice seems full of voices,' she continued. 'It sounds as though............