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He would find some way of making himself disagreeable. If it were only by speaking his mind, he thought that he could speak it in such a way that the Basle merchant would not like it. He would tell Urmand in the first place that Marie was won not at all by affection, not in the least by any personal regard for her suitor, but altogether by a feeling of duty towards her uncle.
He had taught himself to believe that it would be a good thing that his niece should marry Adrian Urmand, and that it was his duty to achieve this good thing in her behalf. He had had it on his mind for the last year, and had nearly brought it to pass.
Adrian Urmand was to be back at Granpere in a few days in ten days Michel Voss had said; and there were those ten days for her in which to resolve what she would do. Now, as though sent from heaven, George had returned, in this very interval of time. Might it not be that he would help her out of her difficulty?
When he had come to her after the walk, and demanded of her whether she still intended to marry Adrian Urmand, she had answered him falsely. 'I suppose so, she had said. The question such a question as it was had been put to her too abruptly to admit of a true answer on the spur of the moment.
'No; nobody has quarrelled with M. Urmand. 'Was he there, George? 'What, with me! No; he was not there with me. I have never seen the man since I first left Granpere to come here. And then George Voss began to think what might have happened had Adrian Urmand been at the hotel while he was there himself. After all, what could he have said to Adrian Urmand? or what could he have done to him?
But this was a dream rather than a plan. Or how would it be if she went to her uncle now at once, while the young man was away at the ravine, and swore to him that nothing on earth should induce her to marry Adrian Urmand? But brave as Marie was, she was afraid to do this.
But if she could not do so; if she could not talk over either her uncle or him to be on what she called her side, then what should she do? Her uncle's entreaties to her, joined to his too evident sorrow, had upon her an effect so powerful, that she could hardly overcome it. She had, as she thought, resolved most positively that nothing should induce her to marry Adrian Urmand.
'It is the first time I have said a word on the subject since I've been here, said Urmand. Which was true; but as Michel was continually thinking of the betrothal, he imagined that everybody was always talking to him of the matter. Marie had now managed to get her hand free, and had retired into the kitchen. Michel followed her, and stood meditative, with his back to the large stove.
There can be no reason against M. Urmand, and if you persist in being so unruly, he will only think that it is because you want George to come back for you. 'I care nothing for George, said Marie, as she left the room; 'nothing at all nothing.
'A man cannot yield on such a matter, he said. 'No man yields in such an affair, though he may be beaten. Madame Voss listened to him, but said nothing farther. She was busy with her work, and went on intently with her needle. He had asked to see Urmand, and he now went out in quest of him. He passed across the court, and in at the door of the cafe, and up into the billiard-room.
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