II.--Stint to Death by his Sister_

It was Madame Bourjot herself who insisted upon seeing Henri again, and,
since he did not answer her letter, she went to his apartments. The
interview was painful, but she gave her consent to Henri's marriage with
Noemi, and undertook to overcome M. Bourjot's possible objections, on
condition that Henri should humour her husband's vanity by adopting a
title--an easy matter enough. The Mauperins had a farm called
Villacourt. Mauperin de Villacourt would do very well. Henri promised to
see what he could do.

Madame Bourjot and her daughter called on the Mauperins next day. The
two girls were asked to leave their mothers to their talk, and to take a
walk in the garden.

"A secret!" said Renee, as soon as they were alone. "Can you guess it? I
can--my brother. ... But you are crying. What is it, my darling Noemi?"

"Oh, you don't know!" her friend sobbed. "I cannot--if you only
knew----Save me! If I could only die!"

"Die! But why?"

"Because your brother is----" She stopped in horror at what she was
about to say, then whispered the rest of her sentence into her ear, and
hid her face on her friend's bosom.

"You lie!" Renee pushed her back.

"I?" Renee did not reply, but looked sadly and gently into Noemi's eyes.

Renee doubted no longer. She was silent for a moment; she felt almost
the duties of a mother towards this child.

In the evening Henri was surprised to find his sister waiting in his
room. She approached the subject of his impending marriage, and implored
him, by his love for her, not to give up his name, and to break off the
match.

"Are you mad? Enough of this!"

Renee fixed her eyes upon her brother.

"Noemi has told me--everything!"

Her cheeks flushed, Henri turned deathly pale.

"My dear," he said, with a shaky voice, "you interfere in things which
do not concern you. A young girl--" Then seizing her hand, he pointed
towards the door, and said, "Go!"

Renee was ill for a week, and Henri, knowing the cause, did his best to
alleviate her suffering. Still, a coldness remained between them. He
understood that she had forgiven the brother, but not the man. One day
she accompanied Henri to town and went with him to the Record Office,
where he had to make some inquiries about the legality of adopting his
own name. While he was questioning the keeper, she overheard two clerks
discuss her brother and his claim. "He thinks the Villacourt family is
extinct. But