n, "the smallness of
my means to do the work I now desired to do brought back the thought
of Mongenod. 'If it were not for Mongenod,' I kept saying to myself, 'I
could do so much more. If a dishonest man had not deprived me of fifteen
hundred francs a year I could save this or that poor family.' Excusing
my own impotence by accusing another, I felt that the miseries of those
to whom I could offer nothing but words of consolation were a curse upon
Mongenod. That thought soothed my heart. One morning, in January, 1816,
my housekeeper announced,--whom do you suppose?--Mongenod! Monsieur
Mongenod! And whom do you think I saw enter my room? The beautiful young
woman I had once seen,--only now she was thirty-six years old,--followed
by her three children and Mongenod. He looked younger than when he went
away; for prosperity and happiness do shed a halo round their favorites.
Thin, pale, yellow, shrivelled, when I last saw him, he was now plump,
sleek, rosy as a prebendary, and well dressed. He flung himself into
my arms. Feeling, perhaps, that I received him coldly, his first words
were: 'Friend, I could not come sooner. The ocean was not free to
passenger ships till 1815; then it took me a year to close up my
business and realize my property. I have succeeded, my friend. When I
received your letter in 1806, I started in a Dutch vessel to bring you
myself a little fortune; but the union of Holland with the French Empire
caused the vessel to be taken by the English and sent to Jamaica, from
which island I escaped by mere chance. When I reached New York I found
I was a victim to the bankruptcy of others. In my absence my poor
Charlotte had not been able to protect herself against schemers. I
was therefore forced to build up once more the edifice of my fortunes.
However, it is all done now, and here we are. By the way those children
are looking at you, you must be aware that we have often talked to
them of their father's benefactor.' 'Oh, yes, yes, monsieur!' said
the beautiful Mongenod, 'we have never passed a single day without
remembering you. Your share has been set aside in all our affairs. We
have looked forward eagerly to the happiness we now have in returning
to you your fortune, not thinking for a moment that the payment of these
just dues can ever wipe out our debt of gratitude.' With those words
Madame Mongenod held out to me that magnificent box you see over there,
in which were one hundred and fifty notes of a thousan