my hiding-place; you would deprive me of the only strong
motive remaining in me, that of remorse."

Hector's decisiveness silenced his dejected wife. Adeline, lofty in the
midst of all this ruin, had derived her courage from her perfect union
with her husband; for she had dreamed of having him for her own, of the
beautiful task of comforting him, of leading him back to family life,
and reconciling him to himself.

"But, Hector, would you leave me to die of despair, anxiety, and
alarms!" said she, seeing herself bereft of the mainspring of her
strength.

"I will come back to you, dear angel--sent from Heaven expressly for me,
I believe. I will come back, if not rich, at least with enough to live
in ease.--Listen, my sweet Adeline, I cannot stay here for many reasons.
In the first place, my pension of six thousand francs is pledged for
four years, so I have nothing. That is not all. I shall be committed to
prison within a few days in consequence of the bills held by Vauvinet.
So I must keep out of the way until my son, to whom I will give full
instructions, shall have bought in the bills. My disappearance will
facilitate that. As soon as my pension is my own, and Vauvinet is paid
off, I will return to you.--You would be sure to let out the secret of
my hiding-place. Be calm; do not cry, Adeline--it is only for a month--"

"Where will you go? What will you do? What will become of you? Who
will take care of you now that you are no longer young? Let me go with
you--we will go abroad--" said she.

"Well, well, we will see," he replied.

The Baron rang and ordered Mariette to collect all his things and pack
them quickly and secretly. Then, after embracing his wife with a warmth
of affection to which she was unaccustomed, he begged her to leave him
alone for a few minutes while he wrote his instructions for Victorin,
promising that he would not leave the house till dark, or without her.

As soon as the Baroness was in the drawing-room, the cunning old man
stole out through the dressing-closet to the anteroom, and went away,
giving Mariette a slip of paper, on which was written, "Address my
trunks to go by railway to Corbeil--to Monsieur Hector, cloak-room,
Corbeil."

The Baron jumped into a hackney coach, and was rushing across Paris by
the time Mariette came to give the Baroness this note, and say that her
master had gone out. Adeline flew back into her room, trembling more
violently than ever; her children followed