The abbe, anxious not to hasten the fatal end, released his parishioner from the duty of hearing mass in church, and allowed him to read the services at home, for the doctor faithfully attended to all his religious duties.

The nearer he came to the grave the more he loved God; the lights eternal shone upon all difficulties and explained them more and more clearly to his mind.
Early in the year Ursula persuaded him to sell the carriage and horses and dismiss Cabirolle.

Monsieur Bongrand, whose uneasiness about Ursula's future was far from quieted by the doctor's half-confidence, boldly opened the subject one evening and showed his old friend the importance of making Ursula legally of age.

Still the old man, though he had often consulted the justice of peace, would not reveal to him the secret of his provision for Ursula, though he agreed to the necessity of securing her independence by majority.

The more Monsieur Bongrand persisted in his efforts to discover the means selected by his old friend to provide for his darling the more wary the doctor became.
"Why not secure the thing," said Bongrand, "why run any risks ?" "When you are between two risks," replied the doctor, "avoid the most risky." Bongrand carried through the business of making Ursula of age so promptly that the papers were ready by the day she was twenty.