most painfully in the affirmative.

"And was his conduct afterwards less barbarous and unfeeling than
before?"

"Not in the least. And when, by chance, my master had the cure and
vicaire of Bonne Nouvelle to dine with him, the better to avert all
suspicion from himself, he would scold me severely in their presence,
and even beg M. le Cure to admonish me, assuring him that some day or
other I should fall into ruin; that I was a girl of free and bold
manners, and that he could not make me keep my distance with the young
men in his office; that I was an idle, unworthy person, whom he only
kept out of charity and pity for my father, who was an honest man with a
large family, whom he had greatly served and obliged. With the exception
of that part of the statement which referred to my father, the rest was
utterly false. I never, by any chance, saw the clerks belonging to his
office, as it was situated in a building entirely detached from the
house."

"And, when alone with M. Ferrand, how did he account for his treatment
of you before the cure?"

"He assured me he was only jesting. However, the cure believed him, and
reprehended me very severely, saying that a person must be vicious
indeed to go astray in so godly a household, where I had none but the
most holy and religious examples before my eyes. I knew not what answer
to make to this address; I felt my cheeks burn and my eyes involuntarily
cast down. All these indications of shame and confusion were construed
to my disadvantage, until, at length, sick at heart, and weary, and
disgusted, my very life seemed a burden to me, and many times I felt
tempted to destroy myself; but the thoughts of my parents, my poor
brothers and sisters, that my small earnings helped to maintain,
deterred me from ending my sorrows by death. I therefore resigned myself
to my wretched fate, finding one consolation, amidst the degradation of
my lot, in the thought that, at least, I had preserved my father from
the horrors of a prison. But a fresh misfortune overwhelmed me; I became
_enceinte_. I now felt myself lost indeed. A secret presentiment assured
me that, when M. Ferrand became aware of a circumstance which ought, at
least, to have rendered him less harsh and cruel, he would treat me
even more unkindly than before. I was still, however, far from expecting
what afterwards occurred."

At this moment, Morel, recovering from his temporary abstraction, gazed
around him, as though trying to c