re them.

These pleasant rambles, the lessons which she recited to her adopted
father, the religious instruction she received from the Marquise and
long hours of play with Philip made up the life of Dolores. Day
succeeded day without bringing anything to break the pleasant monotony
of their existence, for the capture of a mischievous fox, an encounter
with some harmless snake, or the periodical overflow of the Gardon could
scarcely be dignified by the name of an event: yet these, or similar
incidents furnished the children with topics of conversation for weeks
together.

They took little interest in the news that came from Paris, and though
they sometimes observed a cloud on the brow of the Marquis, or tears in
the eyes of his wife, they were ignorant of the cause. Nor was it
possible for them to understand the gravity of the political situation
or the well-founded fears of the Royalists, which were frequently
mentioned in the letters received at the chateau.

Thirteen serene and happy years passed after Dolores became the adopted
daughter of the Marquis de Chamondrin, before she made her first
acquaintance with real sorrow. She had grown rapidly and her mental
progress had kept pace with her physical development. She promised to be
an honor to her parents and to justify them in their determination to
keep her with them always.

But the Marquis had not lost sight of the projects formed years before
in relation to his son's future. As we have previously stated, the
Marquis, even before the birth of his son, dreamed of restoring in him
and through him the glory of the house of Chamondrin--a glory which had
suffered an eclipse for more than a quarter of a century. It was now
time to carry these plans into execution. Philip was eighteen, a
vigorous youth, already a man in stature and in bearing, endowed with
all the faults and virtues of his race, but possessed of more virtues
than faults and especially of an incontestable courage and a profound
reverence for the name he bore. The Marquis had about decided that the
time to send him to Paris had come. He had been preparing for this event
for some months and, thanks to the economy in which he had been so
admirably seconded by his wife, he had laid by a very considerable
amount; enough to supply Philip's wants for five years at least--that
is, until he would be in a position to obtain some office at court or a
command in the army.

But the Marquis had taken other measure