man strained her to his breast with such
fierce and passionate force that she cried out.

"Oh! you are hurting me!" she said.

"I am hurting you!" He grew pale at the words. The pain expressed in his
face seemed greater than it is given to humanity to know. The agony of
this Christ of paternity can only be compared with the masterpieces of
those princes of the palette who have left for us the record of their
visions of an agony suffered for a whole world by the Saviour of men.
Father Goriot pressed his lips very gently against the waist than his
fingers had grasped too roughly.

"Oh! no, no," he cried. "I have not hurt you, have I?" and his smile
seemed to repeat the question. "YOU have hurt me with that cry just
now.--The things cost rather more than that," he said in her ear, with
another gentle kiss, "but I had to deceive him about it, or he would
have been angry."

Eugene sat dumb with amazement in the presence of this inexhaustible
love; he gazed at Goriot, and his face betrayed the artless admiration
which shapes the beliefs of youth.

"I will be worthy of all this," he cried.

"Oh! my Eugene, that is nobly said," and Mme. de Nucingen kissed the law
student on the forehead.

"He gave up Mlle. Taillefer and her millions for you," said Father
Goriot. "Yes, the little thing was in love with you, and now that her
brother is dead she is as rich as Croesus."

"Oh! why did you tell her?" cried Rastignac.

"Eugene," Delphine said in his ear, "I have one regret now this evening.
Ah! how I will love you! and for ever!"

"This is the happiest day I have had since you two were married!" cried
Goriot. "God may send me any suffering, so long as I do not suffer
through you, and I can still say, 'In this short month of February I had
more happiness than other men have in their whole lives.'--Look at me,
Fifine!" he said to his daughter. "She is very beautiful, is she not?
Tell me, now, have you seen many women with that pretty soft color--that
little dimple of hers? No, I thought not. Ah, well, and but for me this
lovely woman would never have been. And very soon happiness will make
her a thousand times lovelier, happiness through you. I could give up
my place in heaven to you, neighbor, if needs be, and go down to hell
instead. Come, let us have dinner," he added, scarcely knowing what he
said, "everything is ours."

"Poor dear father!"

He rose and went over to her, and took her face in his hands, and set a
kis