e of the
kind people about us would utter one word which would give her reason
to suspect that there was any mystery. My wife, however, was always in
dread of some childish questions from Cecile. But I had other fears:
who could be certain that the child of my child did not inherit from her
father some of his vices? I acknowledge to you, Jack, that for years
I dreaded seeing her father's characteristics in Cecile; I dreaded the
discovery of deceit and falsehood; but what joy it has been to me to
find that the child is the perfected image of her mother! She has the
same tender and half-sad smile, the same candid eyes, and lips that can
say No.

"Meanwhile the future alarmed me: my granddaughter must some day learn
the truth, and that truth must be divulged if she should ever marry.

"'She must never love any one,' said her grandmother.

"If this were possible, would it be wise to pass through life without a
protector? Her destiny must be united with a fate as exceptional as her
own. Such a one could hardly be found in our village, and in Paris we
knew no one. It was about the time when these anxieties occupied our
minds that your mother came to this place. She was supposed to be
the wife of D'Argenton, but the forester's wife told me the real
circumstances. I said to myself instantly, 'This boy ought to be
Cecile's husband;' and from that time I attended to your education.

"I looked forward to the time that you, a man grown, would come to
me and ask her hand. This was the reason, of course, that I was so
indignant when D'Argenton sent you to Indret. I said to myself, however,
Jack may emerge from this trial in triumph. If he studies, if he works
with his head as well as his hands, he may still be worthy of the wife
I wish to give him. The letters that we received from you were all
that they should be, and I ventured to indulge the hope I have named.
Suddenly came the intelligence of the robbery. Ah, my friend, how
terrified I was! how I bemoaned the weakness of your mother, and the
tyranny of the monster who had driven you to evil courses! I respected,
nevertheless, the tender affection that existed toward you in the heart
of my little girl, I had not the courage to undeceive her. We talked of
you constantly until the day when I told her that I had seen you at the
forester's. If you could have seen the light in her eyes, and how busy
she was all day! a sign with her always of some excitement, as if her
heart beating