replied Denise, weeping at an idea which had never yet
occurred to her. "I come to pay his debt to you--so far, at least, as
money can pay an eternal debt."

"Pray sit down," said the lawyer; noticing that Denise and the rector
were still standing.

Denise turned away to take from her corset two notes of five hundred
francs each, which were fastened by a pin to her chemise; then she sat
down and offered them to her brother's defender. The rector gave the
lawyer a flashing look which was instantly moistened by a tear.

"Keep the money for yourself, my poor girl," said the lawyer. "The rich
do not pay so generously for a lost cause."

"Monsieur," said Denise, "I cannot obey you."

"Then the money is not yours?" said the lawyer.

"You are mistaken," she replied, looking at Monsieur Bonnet as if to
know whether God would be angry at the lie.

The rector kept his eyes lowered.

"Well, then," said the lawyer, taking one note of five hundred francs
and offering the other to the rector, "I will share it with the poor.
Now, Denise, change this one, which is really mine," he went on, giving
her the note, "for your velvet ribbon and your gold cross. I will hang
the cross above my mantel to remind me of the best and purest young
girl's heart I have ever known in my whole experience as a lawyer."

"I will give it to you without selling it," cried Denise, taking off her
_jeannette_ and offering it to him.

"Monsieur," said the rector, "I accept the five hundred francs to pay
for the exhumation of the poor lad's body and its transportation to
Montegnac. God has no doubt pardoned him, and Jean will rise with my
flock on that last day when the righteous and the repentant will be
called together to the right hand of the Father."

"So be it," replied the lawyer.

He took Denise by the hand and drew her toward him to kiss her forehead;
but the action had another motive.

"My child," he whispered, "no one in Montegnac has five-hundred-franc
notes; they are rare even at Limoges, where they are only taken at a
discount. This money has been given to you; you will not tell me by
whom, and I don't ask you; but listen to me: if you have anything more
to do in this town relating to your poor brother, take care! You and
Monsieur Bonnet and your brother Louis will be followed by police-spies.
Your family is known to have left Montegnac, and as soon as you are seen
here you will be watched and surrounded before you are aware of it."