uld be obliged to confess that Lia d'Argeles is a Chalusse--and that
is a confession which no consideration whatever will wring from me."

She imagined that this declaration would silence and discomfit Wilkie,
but she was mistaken. If he had been obliged to depend upon himself he
would perhaps have been conquered by it; but he was armed with weapons
which had been furnished by the cunning viscount. So he shrugged his
shoulders, and coolly replied: "In that case we should remain poor, and
the government would take possession of our millions. One moment. I
have something to say in this matter. You may renounce your claim, but I
shall not renounce mine. I am your son, and I shall claim the property."

"Even if I entreated you on my knees not to do so?"

"Yes."

Madame d'Argeles's eyes flashed. "Very well. I will show you that this
estate can never be yours. By what right will you lay claim to it?
Because you are my son? But I will deny that you are. I will declare
upon oath that you are nothing to me, and that I don't even know you."

But even this did not daunt Wilkie. He drew from his pocket a scrap
of paper, and flourishing it triumphantly, he exclaimed: "It would
be extremely cruel on your part to deny me, but I foresaw such a
contingency, and here is my answer, copied from the civil code: 'Article
341. Inquiry as to maternity allowed, etc., etc.'"

What the exact bearing of Wilkie's threat might be Madame d'Argeles did
not know. But she felt that this Article 341 would no doubt destroy her
last hope; for the person who had chosen this weapon from the code to
place it in Wilkie's hand must have chosen it carefully. She understood
the situation perfectly. With her experience of life, she could not fail
to understand the despicable part Wilkie was playing. And though it was
not her son who had conceived this odious plot, it was more than enough
to know that he had consented to carry it into execution. Should she try
to persuade Wilkie to abandon this shameful scheme? She might have done
so if she had not been so horrified by the utter want of principle which
she had discovered in his character. But, under the circumstances, she
realized that any effort in this direction would prove unavailing. So
it was purely from a sense of duty and to prevent her conscience from
reproaching her that she exclaimed: "So you will apply to the courts in
order to constrain me to acknowledge you as my son?"

"If you are not reasonable