which she had listened, "and, though he passed a somewhat restless night, he now seems much better."
"What time will you call for me, then, Monsieur?" she asked.
"At seven, Ma'm'selle, exactement;" and, gallantly touching his lips with his fingers, with another flourish of his beaver, he took his leave, and went on tip-toe up the street, by far the happiest man in all Kaskaskia.
"Sit down here for a few moments, Marie," said Madame Lefrette, pointing to a seat beside her own. Marie obeyed without speaking; and while the daughter leaned upon her mother's lap, and the mother placed her arm caressingly across the daughter's shoulders, both gazed in silence for some minutes at the cheerful scene before them. The elder was the first to speak.
"Marie," she said, drawing the girlish form nearer to her bosom, as if to compensate the harshness of a duty with increased affection, "if you go to Monsieur Maillefert's fête this evening, I must warn you against an error that I fear you are falling into."
Marie looked up in surprise.
Do n't alarm yourself," her mother continued with a smile; "I do not apprehend any great danger—to you, my dear; but you are young and impulsive, and may thus unconsciously do a very great injury to another."
"I? Why, mother mine, what can you mean?"
"I mean, my daughter," said her parent, gravely, "that at M. Maillefert's you will probably meet Coron de Cheville."
Marie's eyes fell as if a blow had been threatened her, and the blood mantled in a deep blush to her very temples, while her frame trembled as the young alder in a wandering wind.
"I do not wish to give you pain, Marie," her mother continued, placing her arms about her neck; "but the circumstances of your position render it necessary that I should guard you against an error of manner which may be fraught with evil to yourself—and others."
"What would you have me do, mother?" she asked, without raising her eyes, which were now ready to overflow.
"Nothing but what your own good sense will teach you. Receive him courteously and kindly, but not warmly. Let your father's faith
