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While the young man, much moved, was uttering these words, two

tears, like two great round pearls, shone in his great blue eyes

and rolled down quickly over his rosy cheeks.

But the curious Zosia from the depths of the alcove had been

following this mysterious conversation through a crack; she had

heard Thaddeus tell frankly and boldly of his love, and with

fluttering heart she had seen those two great tears in his eyes.

Though she could not find the key to his mystery, why he had

fallen in love with her, why he was abandoning her, and where he

was departing, nevertheless this departure made her sad. For the

first time in her life she heard from the lips of a youth the

great and marvellous news that she was beloved. So she ran to the

little altar of the house and took from it a picture, and a small

reliquary; the picture was of Saint Genevieve, and in the

reliquary was a bit of the robe of Saint Joseph the Bridegroom,

the patron of youths and maidens who are betrothed. With these

sacred objects she entered the room:-