-a month of bitter sadness and unexpressed suffering on
both sides--passed in this way; and Lenora observed with increased
anxiety the rapid emaciation and pallor of her father, and the
suddenness with which his once-lively eye lost every spark of its wonted
vivacity. It was about this time that a slight change in the old
gentleman's conduct convinced her that a secret--and perhaps a terrible
one--weighed on his heart. Every day or two he went to Antwerp in the
_caleche_, without informing her or any one else of the object of his
visit. He came back to Grinselhof late at night, seated himself at the
supper-table silent and resigned, and, persuading Lenora to go to bed,
soon went off to his own chamber. But his daughter was well aware that
he did not retire to rest; for during long hours of wakefulness she
heard the floor creak as he paced his apartment with restless steps.

Lenora was brave by nature, and her singular and solitary education had
given her a latent force of character that was almost masculine. By
degrees the resolution to make her father reveal his secret grew in her
mind. And, although a feeling of instinctive respect made her hesitate,
a restless devotion to the author of her being gradually overcame all
scruples and emboldened her for the enterprise.

One day Monsieur De Vlierbeck set off very early for town. The morning
wore away heavily; and, toward the afternoon, Lenora wandered wearily
about the desolate house, with no companion but her sad reflections. At
length she entered the apartment where her father usually studied or
wrote, and, after a good deal of hesitation, in which her face and
gestures displayed the anxiety of her purpose, opened the table-drawer,
and saw in it, unrolled, a written document. The paleness of death
overspread her countenance as she perused the paper and instantly closed
the drawer. After this she left the apartment hastily, and, returning to
her chamber, sat down with hands clasped on her knees and eyes fixed on
the floor in a stare of wild surprise.

"_Sell Grinselhof!_" exclaimed she. "Sell Grinselhof! Why? Monsieur
Denecker insulted my father because we were not rich enough for him.
What is this secret? and what does it all mean? If it should be _true_
that we are beggars! Oh, God! does a ray of light penetrate my mind? is
this the solution of the enigma and the cause of my father's
depression?"

For a long time she remained motionless in her chair, absorbed in
re