the end of the week they found out that, during the last three
months, Paul had contracted debts to the amount of fifteen thousand
francs, but the creditors had not gone to his relations about the money,
because they knew the boy would soon be of age. Poulet was asked for no
explanation and received no reproof, as his relations hoped to reform
him by kindness. He was pampered and caressed in every way; the choicest
dishes were prepared for him, and, as it was springtime, a boat was
hired for him at Yport, in spite of Jeanne's nervousness, that he might
go sailing whenever he liked; the only thing that was denied him was a
horse, for fear he should ride to Havre. He became very irritable and
passionate and lived a perfectly aimless life. The baron grieved over
his neglected studies, and even Jeanne, much as she dreaded to be parted
from him again, began to wonder what was to be done with him.

One evening he did not come home. It was found, on inquiry, that he had
gone out in a boat with two sailors, and his distracted mother hurried
down to Yport, without stopping even to put anything over her head. On
the beach she found a few men awaiting the return of the boat, and out
on the sea was a little swaying light, which was drawing nearer and
nearer to the shore. The boat came in, but Paul was not on board; he had
ordered the men to take him to Havre, and had landed there.

The police sought him in vain; he was nowhere to be found, and the woman
who had hidden him once before had sold all her furniture, paid her
rent, and disappeared also, without leaving any trace behind her. In
Paul's room at Les Peuples two letters were found from this creature
(who seemed madly in love with him) saying that she had obtained the
necessary money for a journey to England. The three inmates of the
chateau lived on, gloomy and despairing, through all this mental
torture. Jeanne's hair, which had been gray before, was now quite white,
and she sometimes asked herself what she could have done, that Fate
should so mercilessly pursue her. One day she received the following
letter from the Abbe Tolbiac:

"Madame: The hand of God has been laid heavily upon you. You
refused to give your son to him, and he has delivered him over to a
prostitute; will you not profit by this lesson from heaven? God's
mercy is infinite, and perhaps he will pardon you if you throw
yourself at his feet. I am his humble servant, and I will open hi