“A culpable request, madame, is what I cannot believe you capable of addressing to me.”
“Sir, I am acquainted with the rectitude of your principles; but all my hope—my only hope—is in your pity. Under any event, I may rely on your discretion?”
“Madame, you may.”
“Well, then, I will proceed. The death of this poor child was so great a shock to her mother, that her grief is as great now as it was fourteen years since, and, having then feared for her life, we are now in dread for her reason.”
“Poor mother!” said M. Ferrand, in a tone of sympathy.
“Oh, yes, poor unhappy mother, indeed, sir! for she could only blush at the birth of her child at the time when she lost it; whilst now circumstances are such, that, if the child were still alive, my sister could render her legitimate, be proud
