d upon her sister, a more
affectionate warmth than usual, a wish to make her attractive. And it
was delightful to see that girl of twenty intent upon beautifying
another, without envy or regret, with something of the sweet
renunciation of a mother celebrating her daughter's young love in memory
of her own bygone happiness. Paul saw it, indeed he was the only one who
saw it; but, while he gazed in admiration at Aline, he asked himself
sadly if there would ever be room in that motherly heart for other than
family attachments, for interests outside of the tranquil circle of
light in which Grandmamma presided so prettily over the work-table in
the evening.

Love, as we know, is a poor blind boy, bereft of speech and hearing as
well, and with no other guide than prescience, divination, the nervous
faculties of the invalid. Really, it is pitiful to see him wander about,
feeling his way, faltering at every step, tapping with his fingers the
projections upon which he depends for guidance, with the distrustful
awkwardness of an infirm old man. At the very moment when he was
mentally casting a doubt upon Aline's susceptibility, Paul, having
informed his friends that he was about to leave Paris for a journey of
several days, of several weeks perhaps, did not notice the girl's sudden
pallor, did not hear the sorrowful exclamation from her discreet lips:

"You are going away?"

He was going away, he was going to Tunis, very uneasy at the idea of
leaving his poor Nabob in the midst of his bloodthirsty pack of
pursuers; however, Mora's friendship reassured him somewhat, and,
moreover, the journey was absolutely necessary.

"And what about the _Territoriale_?" asked the old book-keeper, always
recurring to his fixed idea. "How does that stand? I see that
Jansoulet's name is still at the head of the administrative council.
Can't you get him out of that Ali Baba's cave? Beware, beware!"

"Ah! I know it, Monsieur Joyeuse. But in order to get out of it with
honor, we must have money, much money, must sacrifice two or three
millions more; and we haven't them. That is why I am going to Tunis, to
try and extort from the bey's rapacity a small portion of the great
fortune which he so unjustly withholds. At this moment I have some
chance of success, whereas a little later perhaps--"

"Go at once then, my dear boy, and if you return with a bag full of
money as I trust you will, attend first of all to the Paganetti gang.
Remember that one