"You never told me of all this before." "Ah, monsieur!" replied Madame Clapart, proudly, "you were the last to whom I would have told my wretchedness.

It is all my own fault; I married a man whose incapacity is almost beyond belief.

Yes, I am, indeed, most unhappy." "Listen to me, madame," said the little old man, "and don't weep; it is most painful to me to see a fair lady cry.

After all, your son bears the name of Husson, and if my dear deceased wife were living she would wish to do something for the name of her father and of her brother--" "She loved her brother," said Oscar's mother.
"But all my fortune is given to my children, who expect nothing from me at my death," continued the old man.

"I have divided among them the millions that I had, because I wanted to see them happy and enjoying their wealth during my lifetime.