mother, exchanged with her a few whispered
phrases, heart to heart, of which the mystery was betrayed to Lisbeth by
certain shakes of the head.

"Adeline, like me, must work for her living," thought Cousin Betty. "She
shall be made to tell me what she will do! Those pretty fingers will
know at last, like mine, what it is to work because they must."

At six o'clock the family party went in to dinner. A place was laid for
Hector.

"Leave it so," said the Baroness to Mariette, "monsieur sometimes comes
in late."

"Oh, my father will certainly come," said Victorin to his mother. "He
promised me he would when we parted at the Chamber."

Lisbeth, like a spider in the middle of its net, gloated over all these
countenances. Having known Victorin and Hortense from their birth, their
faces were to her like panes of glass, through which she could read
their young souls. Now, from certain stolen looks directed by Victorin
on his mother, she saw that some disaster was hanging over Adeline which
Victorin hesitated to reveal. The famous young lawyer had some covert
anxiety. His deep reverence for his mother was evident in the regret
with which he gazed at her.

Hortense was evidently absorbed in her own woes; for a fortnight past,
as Lisbeth knew, she had been suffering the first uneasiness which want
of money brings to honest souls, and to young wives on whom life
has hitherto smiled, and who conceal their alarms. Also Lisbeth had
immediately guessed that her mother had given her no money. Adeline's
delicacy had brought her so low as to use the fallacious excuses that
necessity suggests to borrowers.

Hortense's absence of mind, with her brother's and the Baroness' deep
dejection, made the dinner a melancholy meal, especially with the added
chill of the Marshal's utter deafness. Three persons gave a little life
to the scene: Lisbeth, Celestine, and Wenceslas. Hortense's affection
had developed the artist's natural liveliness as a Pole, the somewhat
swaggering vivacity and noisy high spirits that characterize these
Frenchmen of the North. His frame of mind and the expression of his
face showed plainly that he believed in himself, and that poor Hortense,
faithful to her mother's training, kept all domestic difficulties to
herself.

"You must be content, at any rate," said Lisbeth to her young cousin, as
they rose from table, "since your mother has helped you with her money."

"Mamma!" replied Hortense in astonishment. "Oh, p