I see it now! I comprehend everything! It is not possible, that, without a profound love, a man can be all that you have been to me.

Alas! I was but a child.

I gave myself up to the great happiness of having a friend! Am I not alone in the world, and as if lost in a desert?
Silly and imprudent, I thoughtlessly confided in you, as in the best, the most indulgent of fathers." These words revealed to the unfortunate magistrate the extent of his error.

The same as a heavy hammer, they smashed into a thousand fragments the fragile edifice of his hopes.

He raised himself slowly, and, in a tone of involuntary reproach, he repeated,--"Your father!" Mademoiselle d'Arlange felt how deeply she had wounded this man whose intense love she dare not even fathom.