that you should have to put on those ugly old clothes, that nasty beard
and those spectacles."

At these words the banker started so abruptly to his feet that Flavia
nearly fell to the ground.

"What do you mean by this?" said he.

"Do you suppose a daughter does not know her father? You might deceive
others, but I--"

"Flavia, I do not comprehend your meaning."

"Do you mean to tell me," asked she, "that you did not come to Paul's
rooms the day I was there?"

"Are you crazy? Listen to me."

"No, I will not; you must not tell me fibs. I am not a fool; and when
you went out with the doctor, I listened at the door, and I heard a few
words you said; and that isn't all, for when I got here, I hid myself
and I saw you come into this room."

"But you said nothing to any one, Flavia?"

"No, certainly not."

Rigal breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course I do not count Paul," continued the girl, "for he is the same
as myself."

"Unhappy child!" exclaimed the banker in so furious a voice, and with
such a threatening gesture of the hand, that for the first time in her
life Flavia was afraid of her father.

"What have I done?" asked she, the tears springing to her eyes. "I only
said to Paul that we should be terribly ungrateful if we did not worship
him; for you don't know what he does for us. Why, he even dresses up in
rags, and goes to see you."

Hortebise, who up to this time had not said a word, now interfered.

"And what did Paul say?" asked he.

"Paul? Oh, nothing for a moment. Then he cried out, 'I see it all now,'
and laughed as if he would have gone into a fit."

"Did you not understand, my poor child, what this laugh means? Paul
thinks that you have been my accomplice, and believes that it was in
obedience to your orders that I went to look for him."

"Well, and suppose he does?"

"A man like Paul never loves a woman who has run after him; and no
matter how great her beauty may be, will always consider that she has
thrown herself in his path. He will accept all her devotion, and make no
more return than a stone or a wooden idol would do. You cannot see this,
and God grant that it may be long before the bandage is removed from
your eyes. Can you not read the quality of this foolish boy, who has not
a manly instinct in him?"

"Enough!" she cried, "enough! I am not such a coward as to allow you to
insult my husband."

He shuddered at the thought that his words might cost him his daughter's
love, b