t Versailles with his
command, received the following letter from Dolores:

"It is my sad duty, my dear Philip, to inform you of the
irreparable misfortune which has just befallen us. Summon all your
fortitude, my dear brother. Your mother died yesterday. The blow
was so sudden, the progress of the malady so rapid, that we could
not warn you in time to give you the supreme consolation of
embracing for the last time her whom we mourn, and who departed
with the name of her son upon her lips.

"Only four days ago she was in our midst, full of life, of strength
and of hope. She was talking of your speedy return, and we rejoiced
with her. One evening she returned from her accustomed walk a
trifle feverish and complaining of the cold. It was a slight
indisposition which was, unfortunately, destined to become an
alarming illness by the following day. All our efforts to check the
disease were unavailing; and we could only weep and bow in
submission to the hand that had smitten us.

"Weep then, my dear Philip, but do not rebel against the will of
God. Be resigned. You will have strength, if you will but remember
the immortal life in which we shall be united forever. It is this
blessed hope that has given me strength to overcome my own sorrow,
to write to you, and to bestow upon your father the consolation of
which he stands so sorely in need. Still, I shall be unable to
assuage his grief if his son does not come to my assistance. You
must lose no time, Philip. The Marquis needs you. In his terrible
affliction, he calls for you. Do not delay.

"Now to you, whom I called my brother only yesterday, I owe an
avowal. Perhaps you have already learned my secret. I know the
truth in regard to my birth. Before her death, the Marquise told me
the details of that strange adventure which threw me, an orphan and
a beggar, upon the mercy of your parents. Just as she breathed her
last sigh, your father threw himself in my arms, weeping and
moaning. He called me by the tenderest names, as if wishing to find
solace for his grief in the caresses of his child. I fell at his
feet.

"'I know all, sir,' I cried.

"'What! She has told you!' he exclaimed. 'Ah, well! Would you
refuse me your affection at a moment like this?'

"'Never!' I cried, clasping my arms