eons, afterwards
visit the dairy, and so go on till we have been all over the farm. I
mean to keep my promise in every respect, I assure you."

Fleur-de-Marie pressed her hands together with earnest gratitude.
Surprise, joy, and the deepest thankfulness, mingled with respect, lit
up her beautiful countenance, while, with eyes streaming with tears, she
exclaimed:

"M. Rodolph, you are, you must be, one of those beneficent angels sent
by the Almighty to do good upon earth, and to rescue poor fallen
creatures, like myself, from shame and misery."

"My poor girl," replied Rodolph, with a smile of deep sadness and
ineffable kindness, "though still young, I have already deeply suffered.
I lost a dear child, who, if living, would now be about your age. Let
that explain my deep sympathy with all who suffer, and for yourself
particularly, Fleur-de-Marie, or, rather, _Marie_ only. Now, go with
Madame Georges, who will shew you the pretty chamber, with its
clustering roses and honeysuckle to form your morning bouquets. Yes,
Marie, henceforward let that name, simple and sweet as yourself, be your
only appellation. Before my departure we will have some talk together,
and then I shall quit you, most happy in the knowledge of your full
contentment."

Fleur-de-Marie, without one word of reply, gracefully bent her knee,
and, before Rodolph could prevent her, gently and respectfully raised
his hand to her lips; then rising with an air of modest submission,
followed Madame Georges, who eyed her with a profound interest, out of
the room.

CHAPTER XI.

MURPHY AND RODOLPH.

Upon quitting the house, Rodolph bent his steps towards the farmyard,
where he found the individual who, the preceding evening, disguised as a
charcoal-man, had warned him of the arrival of Tom and Sarah. Murphy,
which was the name of this personage, was about fifty years of age; his
head, nearly bald, was still ornamented with a fringe of light brown
hair at each side, which the hand of time had here and there slightly
tinged with gray; his face was broad, open, and ruddy, and free from all
appearance of hair, except very short whiskers, of a reddish colour,
only reaching as low as the tip of the ear, from which it diverged, and
stretched itself in a gentle curve across his rubicund cheeks. Spite of
his years and _embonpoint_, Murphy was active and athletic; his
countenance, though somewhat phlegmatic, was expressive of great
resolution and kindliness o