Nature, deranged by bodily illness and mental trouble, provided no nourishment for the little one; but this, which under happier circumstances would have been a disappointment, called forth no expressions of regret from the patient sufferer.

When Tulee held the babe before her in its first dress, she smiled faintly, but immediately closed her eyes.

As she lay there, day after day, with the helpless little creature nestling in her arms, the one consoling reflection was that she had not given birth to a daughter.

A chaos of thoughts were revolving through her mind; the theme of all the variations being how different it was from what it might have been, if the ideal of her girlhood had not been shattered so cruelly.

Had it not been for that glimmering light in the future which Madame so assiduously presented to her view, courage would have forsaken her utterly.