L'Abbé Prévost

“ I was the first to propose this change to Manon, knowing, as I did, the principles which ruled in her breast. She was upright and sincere in all her sentiments; and these are qualities which invariably predispose their possessor towards virtue. I explained to her that there was one thing lacking to make our happiness complete, "and that," said I, "is the approval of Heaven. We are both of us too high-minded and pure-hearted to be content to live on in the voluntary violation of our plain duty. ”

“ I exclaimed, as my heart sank within me: "and what may those views be, your reverence?"
"As you are well aware," he replied, "the Governor is master here, and, Manon having been sent out from France for the benefit of the colony, it is for him to dispose of her as he thinks fit. He has not done so as yet, because he believed her to be married; but now that he has learned from your own lips that she is not, he has decided to give her to M. Synnelet, who is in love with her." ”

“ I then hastened to acquaint Manon with the terrible message which I had just received. We came to the conclusion that Synnelet must have worked upon his uncle's mind since my return, and that it was all the outcome of a long premeditated design on his part.
What were we to do? They had power on their side; we were helpless. Had we been in mid-ocean instead of at New Orleans, we could not have been more completely isolated, separated as we were from the rest of the world by countless leagues on every hand. ”

“ Incessantly do I reproach myself for my infidelities, and bow my heart in contrition as I marvel at the sacrifices which love has inspired you to make for the sake of a miserable girl who has been so little worthy of them, and who," she concluded, with a flood of tears, "though she were to lay down her very life, could never fully repay you for one half of the pangs which she has caused you." ”

“ What greater happiness have I ever asked for than that? Let us trust the guidance of our fortunes to Providence. They do not appear to me to be in such a very desperate plight, after all. The Governor seems a kind and obliging man. He has already shown a disposition to befriend us, and he will not, I am sure, allow us to suffer from absolute want. As for this poor cabin and its rude furniture, comfortless as they are, you may have noticed that there seem to be but few persons here who are better housed or furnished than ourselves ”

“ The fear of displeasing you has made me lock the wish as a secret in my own heart; for I feel that it would be presumption on my part to aspire to the honor of being your wife."
"My wife!" replied I; "why, Manon, you should soon be a queen had it been my fate to be born a king. Let us hesitate no longer; we have no obstacles to dread. I will speak of the matter to the Governor this very day, and confess that we have hitherto been deceiving him. Let vulgar natures be deterred by the indissolubility of the marriage tie ”

“ We carefully cultivated the Governor's friendship; and a few weeks after our arrival he was kind enough to appoint me to an unimportant post which had recently become vacant in the fort. Humble as it was, I accepted it as a godsend; for it enabled me to earn an independent livelihood. ”