ne of those outbursts of rage which in a woman
rise even to the pitch of murder; then came the phase of meanness, to
which a sincere affection humbles itself so gladly. Indeed, for the last
month the Countess would have given ten years of her life to have Lucien
again for one week. At last she had even resigned herself to accept
Esther as her rival, just when the news of her lover's arrest had come
like the last trump on this paroxysm of devotion.

The Countess had nearly died of it. Her husband had himself nursed her
in bed, fearing the betrayal of delirium, and for twenty-four hours she
had been living with a knife in her heart. She said to her husband in
her fever:

"Save Lucien, and I will live henceforth for you alone."

"Indeed, as Madame la Duchesse tells you, it is of no use to make your
eyes like boiled gooseberries," cried the dreadful Asie, shaking the
Countess by the arm. "If you want to save him, there is not a minute to
lose. He is innocent--I swear it by my mother's bones!"

"Yes, yes, of course he is!" cried the Countess, looking quite kindly at
the dreadful old woman.

"But," Asie went on, "if Monsieur Camusot questions him the wrong way,
he can make a guilty man of him with two sentences; so, if it is in your
power to get the Conciergerie opened to you, and to say a few words
to him, go at once, and give him this paper.--He will be released
to-morrow; I will answer for it. Now, get him out of the scrape, for you
got him into it."

"I?"

"Yes, you!--You fine ladies never have a son even when you own millions.
When I allowed myself the luxury of keeping boys, they always had their
pockets full of gold! Their amusements amused me. It is delightful to
be mother and mistress in one. Now, you--you let the men you love die of
hunger without asking any questions. Esther, now, made no speeches; she
gave, at the cost of perdition, soul and body, the million your Lucien
was required to show, and that is what has brought him to this pass----"

"Poor girl! Did she do that! I love her!" said Leontine.

"Yes--now!" said Asie, with freezing irony.

"She was a real beauty; but now, my angel, you are better looking
than she is.--And Lucien's marriage is so effectually broken off, that
nothing can mend it," said the Duchess in a whisper to Leontine.

The effect of this revelation and forecast was so great on the Countess
that she was well again. She passed her hand over her brow; she was
young once more.