"Has my aunt told you?" he went on. "We are going to sleep at
Liege, so that she may go to the convent, and settle matters
there finally, and let the nuns know they are not to expect
you back again."
"Yes, I know," said Madelon. "Monsieur Horace, do you think we
might stop for just a little while--for half-an-hour--at Le
Trooz, to see Jeanne-Marie? She would not like me to go away
without wishing her good-bye."
"Of course we will. It was Jeanne-Marie who took care of you
when you were ill, was it not? Tell me the whole story,
Madelon. What made you run away from Liege?"
"There was a fever in the convent; I caught it, and Aunt
Therese died; and when I was getting well I heard the nuns
talking about it, and saying I was to live in the convent
always, and be made a nun--and I could not, oh! I could not--
papa said I was never to be a nun, and it would have been so
dreadful; and I could not have kept my promise to you,
either."
"What was this promise, Madelon? I can't remember your making
me one, or anything about it."
"Yes, don't you know? That evening at Liege, the night before
I went into the convent, when we were taking a walk.
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