berte made her sit down and knelt beside her:
"Act as your conscience tells you, but, please, without any bitterness against me. ... Whatever you decide to do, do not let me lose your affection."
There may have been a sort of revenge on Gilberte in Mme. de la Vaudraye's unbending attitude. She rejoiced to see this child, who had always dominated her by her goodness and candour, on her knees before her, while she, the judge, looked down from her moral pedestal and put her to confusion from the heights of her respectability.
She did not reply. Gilberte continued:
"You remember our walk, a little while ago, when you showed me the former boundaries of your property. ... Well, I bought it all up ... in order to give it back to you. I hoped to bring you back here, to this house which belongs to you. Everything is yours, you would have managed and disposed of everything, you would have
