The countess heard of it first through her husband.  He could not understand, he said, how a man in good position, with a bright future before him, and a large income to support him, could thus kill himself.

“And to choose such a strange place for his suicide!” he added.  “It is evident the man was insane.”

But the countess did not hear this.  She had fainted.  She understood but too well why Peter had wished to die in that lane overshadowed by old elm-trees.

“I killed him,” she thought, “I killed him!”

The blow was so sudden and so severe, that she came near dying.  Fortunately her mother died nearly at the same time; and this misfortune helped to explain her utter prostration and deep grief.

Her mother had been gradually fading away, after having had all she desired, and living in real luxury during her last years.  Her selfishness was so intense, that she never became aware of the cruelty with which she had sacrificed her daughter.

Sacrificed, however, she really had been; for never did woman suffer what the countess endured from the day on which her lover’s suicide added bitter remorse to all her former grief.  What would have become of her, if her child had not bound her to life!  But she resolved to live; she felt that she was bound to live for Henrietta’s sake.

Thus she struggled on quite alone, for she had not a soul in whom she could confide, when one afternoon, as she was going down stairs, a servant came to tell her that there was a young man in naval uniform below, who desired to have the honor of waiting upon her.

The servant handed her his card; she took it, and read,—­

“Daniel Champcey.”

It was Daniel, Peter’s brother.  Pale as death, the countess turned as if to escape.

“What must I say?” asked the servant, rather surprised at the emotion shown by his mistress.

The poor woman felt as if she was going to faint.

“Show him up,” she replied in a scarcely audible voice,—­“show him up.”

When she looked up again, there stood before her a young man, twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with a frank and open face, and clear, bright eyes, beaming with intelligence and energy.

The countess pointed at a chair near her; for she could not have uttered a word to save her daughter’s life.

He could not help noticing her embarrassment; but he did not guess the cause.  Peter had never mentioned Pauline’s name in his father’s house.

So he sat down, and explained why he came, showing neither embarrassment nor forwardness.

As soon as he had graduated at the Naval Academy, he had been made a midshipman on board “The Formidable,” and there he was still.  A younger man had recently been wrongly promoted over him; and he had asked for leave of absence to appeal to the secretary of the navy.  He felt quite sure of the justice of his claims; but he also knew that strong recommendations never spoil a good cause.  In fact, he hoped that Count Ville-Handry, of whose kindness and great influence he had heard much, would consent to indorse his claims.