d made his way to the
side of the table and stood there prominently alone, her lips trembled a
little, and a faint shade of color passed swiftly over her cheeks. Even
that slight change had vanished now--she was paler, stiller, more widely
altered from her former self than ever, as she faced the president and
said these words:

"I wish to follow my brother's example and make my confession, as he has
made his. I would rather he had spoken for me; but he is too generous
to say any words except such as he thinks may save me from sharing his
punishment. I refuse to be saved, unless he is saved with me. Where
he goes when he leaves this place, I will go; what he suffers, I will
suffer; if he is to die, I believe God will grant me the strength to die
resignedly with him!"

She paused for a moment, and half turned toward Trudaine--then checked
herself instantly and went on: "This is what I now wish to say, as to my
share in the offense charged against my brother. Some time ago, he told
me one day that he had seen my husband's mother in Paris, disguised as
a poor woman; that he had spoken to her, and forced her to acknowledge
herself. Up to this time we had all felt certain that she had left
France, because she held old-fashioned opinions which it is dangerous
for people to hold now--had left France before we came to Paris. She
told my brother that she had indeed gone (with an old, tried servant
of the family to help and protect her) as far as Marseilles; and that,
finding unforeseen difficulty there in getting further, she had taken it
as a warning from Providence not to desert her son, of whom she was very
passionately fond, and from whom she had been most unwilling to depart.
Instead of waiting in exile for quieter times, she determined to go and
hide herself in Paris, knowing her son was going there too. She assumed
the name of her old and faithful servant, who declined to the last to
leave her unprotected; and she proposed to live in the strictest secrecy
and retirement, watching, unknown, the career of her son, and ready at
a moment's notice to disclose herself to him, when the settlement of
public affairs might reunite her safely to her beloved child. My brother
thought this plan full of danger, both for herself, for her son, and for
the honest old man who was risking his head for his mistress's sake. I
thought so too; and in an evil hour I said to Louis: 'Will you try
in secret to get my husband's mother away, and see