f he guessed for whose sake she
had been so cruel. He knew it, of course. Madame de Nailles took care
that he should not be ignorant of it, and the pleasure he took in such a
proof of his power over a young heart was not unlike that pleasure
Jacqueline experienced in her coquetry--which crushed her better
feelings. He felt proud of the sacrifice this beautiful girl had made for
his sake, though he did not consider himself thereby committed to any
decision, only he felt more attached to her than ever. Ever since the day
when Madame de Villegry had first introduced him at the house of Madame
de Nailles, he had had great pleasure in going there. The daughter of the
house was more and more to his taste, but his liking for her was not such
as to carry him beyond prudence. "If I chose," he would say to himself
after every time he met her, "if I chose I could own that jewel. I have
only to stretch out my hand and have it given me." And the next morning,
after going to sleep full of that pleasant thought, he would awake glad
to find that he was still as free as ever, and able to carry on a
flirtation with a woman of the world, which imposed no obligations upon
him, and yet at the same time make love to a young girl whom he would
gladly have married but for certain reports which were beginning to
circulate among men of business concerning the financial position of M.
de Nailles.

They said that he was withdrawing money from secure investments to repair
(or to increase) considerable losses made by speculation, and that he
operated recklessly on the Bourse. These rumors had already withdrawn
Marcel d'Etaples from the list of his daughter's suitors. The young
fellow was a captain of Hussars, who had no scruple in declaring the
reason of his giving up his interest in the young lady. Gerard de Cymier,
more prudent, waited and watched, thinking it would be quite time enough
to go to the bottom of things when he found himself called upon to make a
decision, and greatly interested meantime in the daily increase of
Jacqueline's beauty. It was evident she cared for him. After all, it was
doing the little thing no harm to let her live on in the intoxication of
vanity and hope, and to give her something to dwell upon in her innocent
dreams. Never did Gerard allow himself to overstep the line he had marked
out for himself; a glance, a slight pressure of the hand, which might
have been intentional, or have meant nothing, a few ambiguous words