riety and
piquancy to her physical attractiveness. But one day I saw that her eyes
were bloodshot and glowing with suppressed tears, that she could
scarcely speak, so much was she preoccupied with secret troubles.

"I begged of her, I implored of her, to tell me what was the cause of
her agitation.

"She faltered out at length with a shudder: 'I am--I am pregnant!'

"And she burst out sobbing. Oh! I made a dreadful grimace, and I have no
doubt I turned pale, as men generally do at hearing such a piece of
news. You cannot conceive what an unpleasant stab you feel in your
breast at the announcement of an unexpected paternity of this kind. But
you are sure to know it sooner or later. So, in my turn, I gasped:
'But--but--you are married, are you not?'

"She answered: 'Yes, but my husband has been away in Italy for the last
two months, and he will not be back for some time.'

"I was determined at any cost to get out of my responsibility.

"I said: 'You must go and join him immediately.'

"She reddened to her very temples, and with downcast eyes, murmured:
'Yes--but--' She either dared not or would not finish the sentence.

"I understood, and I prudently enclosed her in an envelope the expenses
of the journey.

* * * * *

"Eight days later, she sent me a letter from Genoa. The following week,
I received one from Florence. Then letters reached me from Leghorn,
Rome, and Naples.

"She said to me: 'I am in good health, my dear love, but I am looking
frightful. I would not care to have you see me till it is all over; you
would not love me. My husband suspects nothing. As his business in this
country will require him to stay there much longer, I will not return to
France till after my confinement.'

"And, at the end of about eight months, I received from Venice these few
words: 'It is a boy.'

"Some time after, she suddenly entered my study one morning, fresher and
prettier than ever, and flung herself into my arms.

"And our former connection was renewed.

"I left the Ministry, and she came to live in my house in the Rue de
Grenelle. She often spoke to me about the child, but I scarcely listened
to what she said about it; it did not concern me. Now and then I placed
a rather large sum of money in her hand, saying: 'Put that by for him.'

"Two more years glided by; and she was more eager to tell me some news
about the youngster--'about Leon.'

"Sometimes she would say in the mids