No doubt it was what her father and mother
were saying of her; the fears and the hopes they had in regard to her.
For a long time that continued, although they must have put out their
light and gone to bed.
Never before had any night sounds in this old house mounted in this way
to her ears. Ordinarily, she slept the heavy, tranquil sleep of youth;
she heard nothing whatever after placing her head upon her pillow;
whilst now, in the wakefulness caused by the inner combat against an
almost overpowering sentiment of affection which she was determined to
conquer, it seemed to her as if the whole house were in unison with
her, that it was also in love, and mourned like herself. Were not the
Huberts, too, sad, as they stilled their tears and thought of the child
they had lost long ago, whose place, alas! had never been filled? She
knew nothing of this in reality, but she had a sensation in this warm
night of the watch of her parents below her, and of the disappointment
in their lives, which they could not forget, notwithstanding their great
love for each other, which was always as fresh as when they were young.
Whilst she was seated in this way, listening in the house that trembled
and sighed, Angelique lost all self-control, and again the tears rolled
down her face, silently, but warm and living, as if they were her life's
blood.
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