The necessity under which Germain was to conceal himself from those who were trying to find him explained all these precautions to Rodolph.
“And it never occurred to you to make a confidant of Germain?” he said to Louise.
“No, sir, he was also a dupe to the hypocrisy of M. Ferrand; he called him harsh and exacting; but he thought him the honestest man on the face of the earth.”
“When Germain was lodging here, did he never hear your father at times accuse the notary of desiring to seduce you?”
“My father never expressed his fears before strangers; and besides, at this period, I deceived his uneasiness, and comforted him by the assurances that M. Ferrand no longer thought of me. Alas! my poor father will nowforgive me those falsehoods? I only employed them to tranquillise your mind, fath
