"Alas!" replied he, "it is terrible to listen tranquilly when the woman one loves says, 'The time of your punishment is fixed; in a few hours it will be executed; it must be so, and I will not endeavor to prevent it.' Well, since you say nothing remains but for M. d'Epinay to arrive that the contract may be signed, and the following day you will be his, to-morrow you will be engaged to M. d'Epinay, for he came this morning to Paris." Valentine uttered a cry.
"I was at the house of Monte-Cristo an hour since," said Morrel; "we were speaking, he of the sorrow of your family, and I of your grief, when a carriage rolled into the court-yard. Never, till then, had I placed any confidence in presentiments, but now I cannot help believing them, Valentine. At the sound of that carriage I shuddered; soon I heard steps on the staircase, which terrified me as much as the footsteps of the commendatore did Don Juan. The door at last opened; Albert de Morcerf entered first, and I began to hope my fears were vain, when, after him, another young man advanced, and the count exclaimed: 'Ah! M. le Baron Franz d'Epinay!' I summoned all my strength and courage to my support. Perhaps I turned pale and trem bled, but certainly I smiled; and, five minutes after, I left, without having heard one word that had been spoken during the time; I felt annihilated."
"Poor Maximilian!" murmured Valentine.
"Valentine, the time has arrived when you must answer me, for my life depends on your answer. What do you intend doing?" Valentine held down her head; she was overwhelmed.
"Listen!" said Morrel; "it is not the first time you have contemplated our present position, which is a serious and urgent one; I do not think it is a moment to give way to useless sorrow; leave that for those who like to suffer at their leisure and indulge their grief in secret. There are such in the world, and God will, doubtless, reward them in heaven for their resignation on earth; but those who mean to contend must not lose one precious moment, but must return, immediately, the blow which fortune strikes. Do you intend to struggle against our ill-for tune! Tell me, Valentine, for it is this which I came to learn."
Valentine trembled, and looked at him with amazement. The idea of resisting her father, her grandmother, and all the family had never occurred to her.
"What do you say, Maximilian!" asked Valentine. "What do you term a struggle? Oh! it would be a sacrilege. What! I resist my father's order, and my dying grandmother's wish? Impossible!"
Morrel started.
"You are too noble not to understand me, and you understand me
