"So what are you going to do?" Valentine asked quietly.
"I'm going to say goodbye to you, Miss Villefort. I sincerely hope your life is so calm, so happy, and so full that you won't even have space to remember me."
"Oh..." The sound escaped Valentine's lips like a wounded animal.
"Goodbye, Valentine. Goodbye," Morrel said, turning to leave.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Valentine thrust her hand through the gap in the fence, grabbing his coat. She understood from her own racing heart that his calmness was just a mask. "Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving so I don't cause your family any more trouble. And to set an example for any other honest man in my position."
"Tell me what you're planning to do, Maximilian. Please."
The young man gave her a sad smile.
"Tell me!" Valentine begged. "I need to know!"
"Has your decision changed?"
"It can't change! You know that!" Valentine cried out. "Then goodbye."
