ld be well kept. He had carefully chosen the house in
which you were to die of hunger and misery. The two Chevassats were
bound to be his devoted accomplices, even unto death. This is what gave
him the amazing boldness, the inconceivable brutality, to watch your
slow agony; no doubt he became quite impatient at your delaying suicide
so long.

"Finally you were driven to it; and your death would have realized their
atrocious hopes, if Providence had not miraculously stepped in,--that
Providence which always, sooner or later, takes its revenge, whatever
the wicked may say to the contrary. Yes, these wretches thought they
had now surely gotten rid of you, when I came in. That very morning, the
woman Chevassat had told them, no doubt, 'She'll do it to-night!' And
that evening, Sarah, Mrs. Brian, and M. Elgin asked, no doubt, full of
hope, 'Is it all over?'"

Immovable, and white as marble, her eyes dilated beyond measure, and her
lips half-open, poor Henrietta listened. She felt as if a bright ray
of the sun had suddenly illumined the darkest depths of the abyss from
which she had been barely snatched.

"Yes," she said, "yes; now I see it all."

Then, as the old dealer, out of breath, and his voice hoarse with
indignation, paused a moment, she asked,--

"Still there is one circumstance which I cannot understand: Sarah
insists upon it that she knew nothing of the forged letter by means of
which Daniel was sent abroad. She told me, on the contrary, that she had
wished to keep him here, because she loved him, and he loved her."

"Ah! do not believe a word of those infamous stories," broke in Papa
Ravinet's sister.

But the old man scratched his head, and said,--

"No, certainly not! We ought not to believe such stories. And yet, I
wonder if there is not some new trick in that. Unless, indeed--But no,
that would be almost too lucky for us! Unless Sarah should really love
M. Champcey!"

And, as if he was afraid of having given rise to hopes which he founded
upon this contingency, he added at once,--

"But let us return to facts. When Sarah was sure of you, she turned
her attention to your father. While they were murdering you slowly, she
abused the inexperience of Count Ville-Handry to lead him into a path
at the end of which he could not but leave his honor behind him. Notice,
pray, that the articles which you read are dated on the very day on
which you would probably have died. That is a clear evidence of her
crim