id of her would
be by promoting her marriage. The little girl was fast developing into a
woman--a woman who would certainly not consent quietly to be set aside.
Well, then, it would be best to dispose of her in so natural a way. When
Jacqueline's slender and graceful figure and the freshness of her bloom
were no longer brought into close comparison with her own charms, she
felt she should appear much younger, and should recover some of
her prestige; people would be less likely to remark her increasing
stoutness, or the red spots on her face, increased by the salt air which
was so favorable to young girls' complexions. Yes, Jacqueline must be
married; that was the resolution to which Madame de Nailles had come
after several nights of sleeplessness. It was her fixed idea, replacing
in her brain that other fixed idea which, willingly or unwillingly, she
saw she must give up--the idea of keeping her stepdaughter in the shade.

"Countess! Ambassadress!" repeated M. de Nailles, with rather a
melancholy smile. "You are going too fast, my dear Clotilde. I don't
doubt that Wermant gave the best possible account of our situation; but
when it comes to saying what I could give her as a dot, I am very much
afraid. We should have, in that case, to fall back on Fred, for I
have not told you everything. This morning Madame d'Argy, who has done
nothing but weep since her boy went away, and who, she says, never will
get accustomed to the life of misery and anxiety she will lead as a
sailor's mother, exclaimed, as she was talking to me: 'Ah! there is but
one way of keeping him at Lizerolles, of having him live there as the
D'Argys have lived before him, quietly, like a good landlord, and
that would be to give him your daughter; with her he would be entirely
satisfied.'"

"Ah! so that is the reason why she asked whether Jacqueline might not
stay with her when we go to Italy! She wishes to court her by proxy. But
I don't think she will succeed. Monsieur de Cymier has the best chance."

"Do you suppose the child suspects--"

"That he admires her? My dear friend, we have to do with a very
sharp--sighted young person. Nothing escapes the observation of
Mademoiselle 'votre fille'."

And Madame de Nailles, in her turn, smiled somewhat bitterly.

"Well," said Jacqueline's father, after a few moments' reflection, "it
may be as well that she should weigh for and against a match before
deciding. She may spend several years that are difficult a