odious machination. To express
then and there the sudden horror I felt at these crimes, would have been
to ruin all. I did not make this mistake. I opposed cunning to cunning;
I appeared even more eager than Abbe d'Aigrigny. Had this immense
inheritance been destined for me alone, I could not have shown myself
more grasping and merciless. Thanks to this stratagem, Abbe d'Aigrigny
had no suspicion. A providential accident having rescued the inheritance
from his hands, he left the house in a state of profound consternation.
For my part, I felt indescribable joy; for I had now the means of saving
and avenging you, my dear young lady. As usual, I went yesterday evening
to my place of business. During the absence of the abbe, it was easy for
me to peruse the correspondence relative to the inheritance. In this way
I was able to unite all the threads of this immense plot. Oh! then,
my dear young lady, I remained, struck with horror, in presence of the
discoveries that I made, and that I never should have made under any
other circumstances."

"What discoveries, sir?"

"There are some secrets which are terrible to those who possess them. Do
not ask me to explain, my dear young lady; but, in this examination, the
league formed against you and your relations, from motives of insatiable
cupidity, appeared to me in all its dark audacity. Thereupon, the lively
and deep interest which I already felt for you, my dear young lady, was
augmented greatly, and extended itself to the other innocent victims of
this infernal conspiracy. In spite of my weakness, I determined to risk
all, to unmask the Abbe d'Aigrigny. I collected the necessary proofs,
to give my declaration before the magistrate the needful authority;
and, this morning, I left the abbe's house without revealing to him my
projects. He might have employed some violent method to detain me; yet
it would have been cowardly to attack him without warning. Once out of
his house, I wrote to him, that I had in my hands proof enough of his
crimes, to attack him openly in the face of day. I would accuse, and he
must defend himself. I went directly to a magistrate, and you know the
rest."

At this juncture, the door opened, and one of the nurses appeared, and
said to Rodin: "Sir, the messenger that you and the magistrate sent to
the Rue Brise-Miche has just come back."

"Has he left the letter?"

"Yes, sir; and it was taken upstairs directly."

"Very well. Leave us!" The nurse went