“Whenever he thought of flight, there arose before him one obstacle which he could not overcome.  He had no money.  How could he expose this rich heiress, who left all for his sake, this beautiful girl, who was accustomed to every imaginable luxury, to want and humiliation?  No; that he could never dare.  And yet his whole available capital did not amount to three thousand dollars.  His fortune was invested in those curiosities that were piled up all over his rooms,—­beautiful objects to his eyes in former days, but now hateful, and annoying to behold.  He knew they represented a large sum, quite a respectable fortune; but such collections cannot be sold overnight; and time was pressing.

“He had seen Sarah several times secretly; and each time she had appeared to him more mournful and dejected.  She could bring him nothing but most distressing news.  Mrs. Brian spoke of giving her in marriage to a friend of hers.  M. Elgin proposed to take her abroad.  And, with such troubles filling his head, the poor cashier had to attend to his daily duties, and from morning till night receive tens and hundreds of thousands; and never yet, I swear it, the thought occurred to him of taking a small fraction of these treasures.

“He had determined to sell all his collections as a whole, at any price he could get, when one day, a few moments before the office closed, a lady appeared, whose ample dress concealed her figure, while a thick veil completely shrouded her features.

“This lady raised her veil.  It was she.  It was Sarah Brandon.

“Malgat begged her to enter.  He was overcome.  What new misfortune had happened to induce her to take such a step?  She told him in a few words.

“Sir Thorn had found out their secret meetings:  he had told her to be ready to start for Philadelphia the next morning.

“The crisis had come.  They must choose now between two things,—­either to flee that very day, or be separated forever.

“Ah! never had Sarah been so beautiful as at this moment, when she seemed to be maddened by grief; never had her whole personal beauty exhaled such powerful, such irresistible charms.  Her breath went and came, causing her almost to sob at every respiration; and big tears, like scattered beads from a chaplet of pearls, rolled down her pale cheeks.

“Malgat stood a moment before her, stunned by the blow; and the imminence of the danger extorted from him a confession of the reasons that had made him hesitate so long.  He told her, cruelly humiliated by the avowal, that he had no money.

“But she rose when she heard it, as if she had been stung by an insult, and repeated with crushing irony,—­

“‘No money?  No money?’

“And when Malgat, more heartily ashamed of his poverty than he could have been of a crime, blushed to the roots of his hair, she pointed at the immense safe, which overflowed with gold and bank-notes, and said,—­