. And you know when she
cries I no longer know what I do or say! She breaks my heart with her
tears. And she knows it. Ah! it is a great misfortune to love children
too much!"

This energetic woman was conquered, and yet understood that she was wrong
to allow herself to be conquered. She fell into a deep reverie, and
forgot that Cayrol was present. She thought of the future which she had
planned for Micheline, and which the latter carelessly destroyed in an
instant.

Pierre, now an orphan, would have been a real son to the mistress. He
would have lived in her house, and have surrounded her old age with care
and affection. And then, he was so full of ability that he could not help
attaining a brilliant position. She would have helped him, and would have
rejoiced in his success. And all this scaffolding was overturned because
this Panine had crossed Micheline's path. A foreign adventurer, prince
perhaps, but who could tell? Lies are easily told when the proofs of the
lie have to be sought beyond the frontiers. And it was her daughter who
was going to fall in love with an insipid fop who only coveted her
millions. That she should see such a man enter her family, steal
Micheline's love from her, and rummage her strongbox! In a moment she
vowed mortal hatred against Panine, and resolved to do all she could to
prevent the longed-for marriage with her daughter.

She was disturbed in her meditation by Cayrol's voice. He wished to take
an answer to the Prince. What must he say to him?

"You will let him know," said Madame Desvarennes, "that he must refrain
from seeking opportunities of meeting my daughter. If he be a gentleman,
he will understand that his presence, even in Paris, is disagreeable to
me. I ask him to go away for three weeks. After that time he may come
back, and I agree to give him an answer."

"You promise me that you will not be vexed with me for having undertaken
this errand?"

"I promise on one condition. It is, that not a word which has passed here
this morning shall be repeated to any one. Nobody must suspect the
proposal that you have just made to me."

Cayrol swore to hold his tongue, and he kept his word. Prince Panine left
that same night for England.

Madame Desvarennes was a woman of quick resolution. She took a sheet of
paper, a pen, and in her large handwriting wrote the following lines
addressed to Pierre:

"If you do not wish to find Micheline married on your return, come back
without a