"Once married," thought she, "I shall be free, and shall be able to follow the Duke and Duchess to Paris." Upon her return to the Chateau, she found Octave awaiting her.

His eyes put the question that his lips did not dare to utter; and, placing her hand in his with a gentle inclination of her head, she assented to his prayer.
This act on her part would, she believed, free her from the past; but she was in error.

Upon hearing that his dastardly attempt at murder had failed, the Counsellor was for the time utterly overwhelmed with terror, but the news that he had gained from M.de Puymandour calmed his mind in a great measure.

He was not, however, completely reassured until he heard for certain that the Duke had become a helpless maniac, and that the doctor, having given up all hopes of his patient's recovery, had discontinued his visits to the Chateau.

As soon as he had heard that Norbert's marriage had been so soon followed by his father's death, he imagined that every cloud had disappeared from the sky.