So she continued:
"'I should utter an untruth if I said that I have not suffered on
account of this sudden change. But I have courage; I shall learn how to
submit. I shall, I hope, have strength to forget, for I _must_ forget!
The remembrances of past felicity would render my present misery
intolerable.'"
Mlle. de Courtornieu suddenly folded up the letter.
"You have heard it, Monsieur," said she. "Can you understand such pride
as that? And they accuse us, daughters of the nobility, of being proud!"
Martial made no response. He felt that his altered voice would betray
him. How much more would he have been moved, if he had been allowed to
read the concluding lines:
"One must live, my dear Blanche!" added Marie-Anne, "and I feel no false
shame in asking you to aid me. I sew very nicely, as you know, and I
could earn my livelihood by embroidery if I knew more people. I will
call to-day at Courtornieu to ask you to give me a list of ladies to
whom I can present myself on your recommendation."
But Mlle. de Courtornieu had taken good care not to allude to the
touching request.
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