But no one does suspect it."
Marie-Anne rose, her eyes flashed with generous indignation.
"My father!" she exclaimed; "oh! my father!"
Then, in a calmer tone, she added:
"If others know nothing of this, can _you_ forget it?"
M. Lacheneur appeared almost ready to succumb to the torture of the
terrible conflict raging in his soul.
"Return!" he exclaimed. "What shall I return? That which I have
received? So be it. I consent. I will give the duke the eighty thousand
francs; to this amount I will add the interest on this sum since I have
had it, and--we shall be free of all obligation."
The girl sadly shook her head.
"Why do you resort to subterfuges which are so unworthy of you?" she
asked, gently. "You know perfectly well that it was Sairmeuse which
Mademoiselle Armande intended to intrust to the servant of her house.
And it is Sairmeuse which must be returned."
The word "servant" was revolting to a man, who, at least, while the
empire endured, had been a power in the land.
"Ah! you are cruel, my daughter," he said, with intense bitterness; "as
cruel as a child who has never suffered--as cruel as one who, having
never himself been tempted, is without mercy for those who have yielded
to temptation.
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