ula
as she comes out of church and look at the little scarf she is wearing
round her neck,--real cashmere, and it cost six hundred francs!"

If a thunderbolt had fallen in the midst of the heirs the effect would
have been less than that of Goupil's last words; the mischief-maker
stood by rubbing his hands.

The doctor's old green salon had been renovated by a Parisian
upholsterer. Judged by the luxury displayed, he was sometimes accused
of hoarding immense wealth, sometimes of spending his capital on Ursula.
The heirs called him in turn a miser and a spendthrift, but the saying,
"He's an old fool!" summed upon, on the whole, the verdict of the
neighbourhood. These mistaken judgments of the little town had the one
advantage of misleading the heirs, who never suspected the love between
Savinien and Ursula, which was the secret reason of the doctor's
expenditure. The old man took the greatest delights in accustoming his
godchild to her future station in the world. Possessing an income of
over fifty thousand francs a year, it gave him pleasure to adorn his
idol.

In the month of February, 1832, the day when Ursula was eighteen, her
eyes beheld Savinien in the uniform of an ensign as she looked from her
window when she rose in the morning.

"Why didn't I know he was coming?" she said to herself.

After the taking of Algiers, Savinien had distinguished himself by an
act of courage which won him the cross. The corvette on which he was
serving was many months at sea without his being able to communicate
with the doctor; and he did not wish to leave the service without
consulting him. Desirous of retaining in the navy a name already
illustrious in its service, the new government had profited by a general
change of officers to make Savinien an ensign. Having obtained leave
of absence for fifteen days, the new officer arrived from Toulon by the
mail, in time for Ursula's fete, intending to consult the doctor at the
same time.

"He has come!" cried Ursula rushing into her godfather's bedroom.

"Very good," he answered; "I can guess what brings him, and he may now
stay in Nemours."

"Ah! that's my birthday present--it is all in that sentence," she said,
kissing him.

On a sign, which she ran up to make from her window, Savinien came over
at once; she longed to admire him, for he seemed to her so changed
for the better. Military service does, in fact, give a certain grave
decision to the air and carriage and gestures of a