is deemed guilty.  The day is drawing near when Sarah Brandon will get rid of him, as she has gotten rid of Kergrist, of Malgat the poor cashier, and others.  The means are at hand.  Already the name of Count Ville-Handry is seriously compromised.  The company which he has established is breaking to pieces; and the papers hold him up to public contempt.  If he cannot pay to-day, he will be to-morrow accused of fraudulent bankruptcy.  Now, I ask you, is the count a man who will survive such a disgrace?”

For some time Henrietta had been unable to suppress her sobs; under this terrible threat she broke out in loud weeping.

“Ah, sir!” she said, “you have misled me.  You assured me that my father’s life was in no danger.”

“And I promise you still, it is not in danger.  Would I be here, if I did not think that Sarah was not quite ready yet?”

Daniel, also, had suffered terribly during this discussion; and he now said passionately,—­

“Would it not be a crime for us to think, to wait, and to calculate, when such great dangers are impending?  Come, sir, let us go”—­

“Where?”

“Ah, how do I know?  Into court, to the count, to a lawyer who can advise us.  There must be something that can be done.”

The old dealer did not stir.

“Poor, honest young man!” he said with an accent of bitter irony.  “And what could we tell the lawyer?  That Sarah Brandon has made an old man, the Count Ville-Handry, fall madly in love with her?  That is no crime.  That she has made him marry her?  That was her right.  That the count has launched forth in speculations?  She opposed it.  That he understood nothing of business?  She could not help that.  That he has been duped, cheated, and finally ruined in two short years?  Apparently she is as much ruined as he is.  That, in order to delay the catastrophe, he has resorted to illegal means?  She is sorry for it.  That he will not survive the taint on his ancient name?  What can she do?  Sarah, who was able to clear herself the day after Malgat’s disappearance, will not be at a loss now to establish her innocence.”

“But the count, sir, the count!  Can we not go to him?”

“Count Ville-Handry would say to you—­But you shall hear to-morrow what he will tell you.”

Daniel began to feel utterly dismayed.

“What can be done, then?” he asked.

“We must wait till we have sufficient evidence in hand to crush at one blow Sarah Brandon, Thorn, and Mrs. Brian.”

“Well; but how shall we get such evidence?”

The old gentleman cast a look of intelligence at his sister, smiled, and said with a strange accent in his voice,—­

“I have collected some.  As to the rest”—­

“Well?”

“Well, my dear M. Champcey, I am no longer troubled about getting more, since I have found out that the Countess Sarah is in love with you.”

Now Daniel began to understand the part Papa Ravinet expected him to play.  Still he did not object; he bowed his head under the clear eye of Henrietta, and said in a low voice,—­