“None, my child.  You know every thing.”

“I can very well understand,” replied Lenora, gravely, “that others would consider a blow like this as a frightful misfortune; but how can it affect us?  You even appear calm.  Why, father, do you, like me, appear indifferent to the inexorable decree of fate?”

“Because you have inspired me with courage and confidence, Lenora; because your love is restored to me fully after a long constraint; because you let me hope that you will not be unhappy.  I know what you want to say, noble child, whom God has given me as a shield against every ill!  Well, I will encounter ruin without bowing my head, and submit with resignation to the hand of God!  Alas!” continued he, sadly, “who can tell what sufferings are yet in store for us?  We may be forced to wander about the world,—­to seek an asylum far from those we know and love,—­to earn our daily bread by the labor of our hands!  Oh, Lenora, you know not how bitter is the bread of misery,—­of poverty!”

The maiden shuddered as she saw the cloud falling once more like a curtain over her father’s face.  She grasped his hand tenderly, and, fixing her gaze intently on his, said, in beseeching tones,—­

“Oh, father! let not the happy smile that just now lighted your features depart from them again!  Believe me, we shall still be happy.  Fancy yourself in the position that awaits us:  and what do you see in it so frightful?  I have skill to do all that woman can do; and then your instructions have made me able to instruct others in the arts and sciences you have taught me.  I shall be strong and active enough for both of us, and God will bless my labor.  Behold us, father, peacefully at home, with tranquil hearts and always together in our neat apartment:  we will love one another, set misfortune at defiance, and live together in the heaven that our common sacrifice has made!  Oh, it seems to me, father, that the true happiness of our lives is only beginning!  How can you still give yourself up to despair when pleasure is in store for us,—­a pleasure such as few upon earth are permitted to enjoy?”

Monsieur De Vlierbeck looked at his daughter with rapture.  Those enthusiastic but gentle tones had so touched his heart, that noble courage had inspired him with so much admiration, that tears of joy filled his eyes.  With one hand he drew Lenora to his bosom, and, placing the other on her forehead, he looked to heaven with religious fervor.  A silent prayer, a blessing on his child, an outpouring of thankfulness, arose from his heart, like the sacred flame from an altar, toward the throne of Him who had bestowed that angelic child!

CHAPTER VIII.

A few days afterward, as De Vlierbeck had predicted, the public sale of all their property was inserted in the papers and placarded over the city and neighborhood.  The affair made some noise, and every one was astonished at the ruin of a person whom they considered rich and miserly.