Feeling sure, as I did, that you were my own daughter, I shuddered at the thought of the horrible crime that I might not be in time to prevent, and without one moment's delay set out for this place--suffering such agony by the way as I do not like even to think of.

You were already delivered from danger when I arrived, as you know, and without having suffered anything beyond the alarm and dread--which must have been terrible indeed, my poor child! And then, the amethyst ring on your finger confirmed, past any possibility of doubt, what my heart had told me, when first my eyes beheld you in the theatre." "I pray you to believe, dear lord and father," answered Isabelle, "that I have never accused you of anything, nor considered myself neglected.
Accustomed from my infancy to the roving life of the troupe I was with, I neither knew nor dreamed of any other.

The little knowledge that I had of the world made me realize that I should be wrong in wishing to force myself upon an illustrious family, obliged doubtless by powerful reasons, of which I knew nothing, to leave me in obscurity.

The confused remembrance I had of my origin sometimes inspired me--when I was very young--with a certain pride, and I would say to myself, when I noticed the disdainful air with which great ladies looked down upon us poor actresses, I also am of noble birth.

But I outgrew those fancies, and only preserved an invincible self-respect, which I have always cherished.