ke one
more effort, and went on,--

"Now, let us sum up the whole. I know how Sarah, Sir Thorn, and Mrs.
Brian have gone to work to rob Count Ville-Handry, and to ruin him. I
know what they have done with the millions which they report were lost
in speculations; and I have the evidence in my hand. Therefore, I can
ruin them, without reference to their other crimes. Crochard's affidavit
alone suffices to ruin M. de Brevan. The two Chevassats, husband and
wife, have caught themselves by keeping the four thousand francs you
sent to Miss Henrietta. We have them safe, the wretches! The hour of
vengeance has come at last."

Henrietta did not let him conclude: she interrupted him, saying,--

"And my father, sir, my father?"

"M. Champcey will save him, madam."

Daniel had risen, deeply moved, and now asked,--

"What am I to do?"

"You must call on the Countess Sarah, and look as if you had forgotten
all that has happened,--as far as she is concerned, Miss Henrietta."

The young officer blushed all over, and stammered painfully,--

"Ah, I cannot play that part! I would not be able."

But Henrietta stopped him. Laying her hand on his shoulder, and looking
deep into the eyes of her betrothed, as if to search the very depths of
his conscience, she said,--

"Have you reasons for hesitating?"

He hung his head, and said,--

"I shall go."

XXXII.

It struck two when Daniel jumped out of a carriage before No. 79 in
Peletier Street, where the offices of the Pennsylvania Petroleum Company
were now, and where Count Ville-Handry lived at present.

Never in his life had he felt so embarrassed, or so dissatisfied with
himself. In vain had Papa Ravinet and Mrs. Bertolle brought up all
possible arguments to convince him, that, with a woman like Sarah
Brandon, all reprisals were fair; he would not be convinced.

Unfortunately, he could not refuse to go without risking the peace of
his Henrietta, her confidence, and her whole happiness; so he went as
bravely as he could.

A clerk whom he asked told him that the president was in his rooms,--in
the third story on the left. He went up. The maid who came to open the
door recognized him. It was the same Clarissa who had betrayed him.
When he asked for the count she invited him in. She took him through
an anteroom, dark, and fragrant with odors from the kitchen; and then,
opening a door, she said;--

"Please walk in!"

Before an immense table, covered with papers, sat