No matter how much I may venerate you and respect your silence, the sense of duty is greater even than veneration.

I must--I _will_--know the secret of your grief!" "Thou deprived of thy father's love ?" exclaimed De Vlierbeck, reproachfully and with surprise;--love for thee, my adored child, is precisely the secret of my grief.

For ten years I have drained the bitter cup and prayed the Almighty to make you happy; but, alas! my prayers have always been unheard!" "Shall I be unhappy, then ?" asked Lenora, without betraying the least emotion.
"Unhappy, because of the misery that awaits us," replied her father.
"The blow that is about to fall on our house destroys all that we possess.

We must leave Grinselhof." The last words, which plainly confirmed her fears, seemed for a moment to appall the girl; but she repressed her feelings, and answered him, with increased courage,-- "You are not dying this slow death because ill-fortune has overtaken _you_, my father; I know the unconquerable force of your character too well for that.

No! your heart is weak and yielding because _I_ have to partake your poverty! Bless you, bless you, for your affection! But, tell me, father, if I were offered all the wealth of the world on condition that I would consent to see you suffer for a single day, what think you I would answer ?" Dumb with surprise, the poor man looked proudly at his daughter, and a gentle pressure of her hand was his sole reply.
"Ah!" continued she, "I would refuse all the treasures of earth and meet poverty without a sigh.