sted herself in useless conjectures upon the causes of
the catastrophe; and such was the disorder of her mind, that she
knew not what to hope and what to fear, and that from one minute to
another she wished for the most contradictory things.

She would have been glad to hear that her husband was safe out of
the country, and yet she would have deemed herself less miserable,
had she known that he was hid somewhere in Paris.

And obstinately the same questions returned to her lips,

"Where is he now? What is he doing? What is he thinking about?
How can he leave us without news? Is it possible that it is a
woman who has driven him into the precipice? And, if so, who is
that woman?"

Very different were Mlle. Gilberte's thoughts.

The great calamity that befell her family had brought about the
sudden realization of her hopes. Her father's disaster had given
her an opportunity to test the man she loved; and she had found
him even superior to all that she could have dared to dream. The
name of Favoral was forever disgraced; but she was going to be
the wife of Marius, Marquise de Tregars.

And, in the candor of her loyal soul, she accused herself of not
taking enough interest in her mother's grief, and reproached
herself for the quivers of joy which she felt within her.

"Where is Maxence?" asked Mme. Favoral.

"Where is M. de Tregars? Why have they told us nothing of their
projects?"

"They will, no doubt, come home to dinner," replied Mlle. Gilberte.

So well was she convinced of this, that she had given orders to the
servant to have a somewhat better dinner than usual; and her heart
was beating at the thought of being seated near Marius, between her
mother and her brother.

At about six o'clock, the bell rang violently.

"There he is!" said the young girl, rising to her feet.

But no: it was only the porter, bringing up a summons ordering Mme.
Favoral, under penalty of the law, to appear the next day, at one
o'clock precisely, before the examining judge, Barban d'Avranchel,
at his office in the Palace of Justice.

The poor woman came near fainting.

"What can this judge want with me? It ought to be forbidden to
call a wife to testify against her husband," she said.

"M. de Tregars will tell you what to answer, mamma," said Mlle.
Gilberte.

Meantime, seven o'clock came, then eight, and still neither Maxence
nor M. de Tregars had come.

Both mother and daughter were becoming anxious, when at las