much firmness in the look which gave this answer, no one could, at any rate, doubt his will, if they did his power.
“Oh, thank you a thousand times! But how, unless a miracle should restore your speech, your gesture, your movement, how can you, chained to that armchair, dumb and motionless, oppose this marriage?”
A smile lit up the old man’s face, a strange smile of the eyes in a paralyzed face.
“Then I must wait?” asked the young man.
“Yes.”
“But the contract?”
The same smile returned. “Will you assure me it shall not be signed?”
“Yes,” said Noirtier.
“The contract shall not be signed!” cried Morrel. “Oh, pardon me, sir; I can scarcely realize so great a happiness. Will they not sign it?”
“No,” said