Conyncks was nothing to him beside Marguerite; he saw only his daughter, he thought only of her, and seemed to fear her, as certain weak husbands fear a superior woman who rules them.

When he raised his eyes and looked at her, Marguerite noticed with distress an expression of fear, like that of a child detected in a fault.

The noble girl was unable to reconcile the majestic and terrible expression of that bald head, denuded by science and by toil, with the puerile smile, the eager servility exhibited on the lips and countenance of the old man.

She suffered from the contrast of that greatness to that littleness, and resolved to use her utmost influence to restore her father's sense of dignity before the solemn day on which he was to reappear in the bosom of his family.

Her first step when they were alone was to ask him,-- "Do you owe anything here ?" Balthazar colored, and replied with an embarrassed air:-- "I don't know, but Lemulquinier can tell you.