The priest stood in an attitude of eager attention: his cowl was removed; and, judge of my sensations, when I recognized the countenance of De Courcy!" "My father!" exclaimed Lucie; "that priest"-- "Wait, and you shall know all;" interrupted Madame de la Tour.

"That priest was indeed your father; he had taken the vows of a rigid order, and Providence guided him to the death-bed of your mother.

I pass over the scene which followed; it is too hallowed for description.

Suffice it to say, the solemn confession of that dreadful moment convinced him of her innocence, and her last sufferings were soothed by mutual reconciliation and forgiveness.

Your father closed her eyes in their last sleep, and pressing you for an instant to his heart, rushed almost frantic from the convent.
"On the following day, my father sought De Courcy at the monastery, hoping to draw him back to the world by the touching claims of parental love.