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Amid all these heavy labors Francoise and Dominique adored each other. They did not indulge in lovers' talks, but there was a smiling gentleness in their glances. Up to that time Pere Merlier had not spoken a single word on the subject of marriage, and they respected this silence, awaiting the old man's will.
"With age," the deliberate voice went on, "the soul grows restless and moves in strange directions, struggling to throw off the burden of flesh. But I that know tell you," Merlier paused at the door, "the charity of material benevolence, of gold, will cure no spiritual sores; for spirit is eternal, but the flesh is only so much dung."
From there they threw themselves into a ditch; they gained the forest of Sauval. Before taking his departure the captain bowed very politely to Pere Merlier and made his excuses, adding: "Amuse them! We will return!" Dominique was now alone in the hall. He was still firing, hearing nothing, understanding nothing. He felt only the need of defending Francoise.
Pere Merlier looked at the captain with an air of surprise, as if to ask him if the struggle was over. "They are getting ready for something worse," muttered the officer. "Don't trust appearances. Move away from there." He had not finished speaking when there was a terrible discharge of musketry. The great elm was riddled, and a host of leaves shot into the air.
Certainly he might have rested, allowed the mill wheel to slumber in the moss, but that would have been too dull for him, and in his eyes the building would have seemed dead. He toiled on for pleasure. Pere Merlier was a tall old man with a long, still face, who never laughed but who possessed, notwithstanding, a very gay heart.
She clasped her hands; she prayed. Pere Merlier, beside her, maintained silence and the rigid attitude of an old peasant who does not struggle against fate. "Oh, MON DIEU! Oh, MON DIEU!" murmured Francoise. "They are going to kill him!" The miller drew her to him and took her on his knees as if she had been a child. At that moment the officer came out, while behind him two men brought Dominique.
He had been chosen mayor because of his money and also on account of the imposing air he could assume during a marriage ceremony. Francoise Merlier was just eighteen. She did not pass for one of the handsome girls of the district, as she was not robust. Up to her fifteenth year she had been even ugly.
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