ning
to see a little clearly into this matter! You imagined, I suppose, that
you would make a good business out of it and sell your merchandise as
high as possible!"

"Sir," exclaimed De Vlierbeck, bounding from his chair in rage, "speak
respectfully of my daughter! Poor or rich, do not dare to forget who she
is!"

"Don't get angry! don't get angry! Monsieur De Vlierbeck. I have no
desire to insult you. Far from it. Had your enterprise succeeded I would
probably have admired you; but _finesse_ against _finesse_ always makes
a bad game! Permit me to ask, since you are so touchy on the point of
honor, if you have acted a very honorable part in courting my nephew and
allowing his passion to absorb him?"

De Vlierbeck bowed his head to conceal the blush that suffused his aged
cheeks; nor did he awake from his painful stupor till the merchant
recalled him by the single word,--

"Well?"

"Ah!" stammered De Vlierbeck, "have mercy on me! Love for my child,
probably, led me astray. God endowed her with all the gifts that can
adorn a woman. I hoped that her beauty, the purity of her soul, the
nobility of her blood, were treasures quite as precious as gold!"

"That is to say, for a gentleman, perhaps; but not for so common a
person as a merchant," interrupted Monsieur Denecker, with a sneer.

"Don't reproach me with having _courted_ your nephew," continued De
Vlierbeck. "That is a word that wounds me deeply; for it is unjust.
Their attachment was reciprocal and in every way unstudied. I thanked
God daily in my prayers that he had cast in our path a savior for my
child:--yes, a savior, I say; for Gustave is an honorable youth, who
would have made her happy not so much by money as by his noble and
generous character. Is it then so great a crime for a father who has
unfortunately become poor to hope that his child should escape want?"

"Certainly not," replied the merchant; "but every thing is in _success_;
and in that respect, Monsieur De Vlierbeck, your enterprise has been
unfortunate. I am a man who examines his goods twice before he buys, and
it is difficult to pass apples on me for lemons!"

This heartless, trafficking slang tortured the unfortunate bankrupt to
such a degree that he arose from his seat in a passion and began to pace
the apartment.

"You have no consideration for my misfortunes, sir," said he. "You
pretend that I designed deceiving you; but was it _you_ who discovered
my poverty? Are you not free to