"It is one of those acts which God alone can judge, since God alone can
read the depths of one's secret soul.
"I am only a depositary, you tell me. It was, indeed, in this light that
I formerly regarded myself.
"If your poor sainted mother was still alive, she would tell you the
anxiety and anguish I felt on being made the master of riches which
were not mine. I trembled lest I should yield to their seductions; I was
afraid of myself. I felt as a gambler might feel who had the winnings
of others confided to his care; as a drunkard might feel who had been
placed in charge of a quantity of the most delicious wines.
"Your mother would tell you that I moved heaven and earth to find the
Duc de Sairmeuse. But he had left the Count d'Artois, and no one knew
where he had gone or what had become of him. Ten years passed before
I could make up my mind to inhabit the chateau--yes, ten years--during
which I had the furniture dusted each morning as if the master was to
return that evening.
"At last I ventured. I had heard Monsieur d'Escorval declare that the
duke had been killed in battle.
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