Page 638 of 788

"I do not now remember perfectly what happened so long ago; I

know that everybody told me that I must marry you. I always

assent to the will of Heaven and the will of my elders." Then,

lowering her eyes, she added: "Before your departure, if you

remember, when Father Robak died on that stormy night, I saw that

you were dreadfully sorry to leave us. You had tears in your

eyes: those tears, I tell you truly, fell deep into my heart;

since then I have trusted your word, that you were fond of me.

Whenever I have uttered a prayer for your success, I have always

had before my eyes the picture of you with those great shining

tears. Later the Chamberlain's wife went to Wilno and took me

there for the winter; but I longed for Soplicowo and for that

little room where you met me for the first time one evening by

the table, and where you later bade me farewell.