which might have excused him, than for
the remorse which could not undo his deeds. Society is satisfied by
appearances: it takes what it gives, without considering the intrinsic
worth of the article. To the world real suffering is a show, a species
of enjoyment, which inclines it to absolve even a criminal; in its
thirst for emotions it acquits without judging the man who raises a
laugh, or he who makes it weep, making no inquiry into their methods.

Marguerite was just nineteen when her father put her in charge of the
household; and her brothers and sister, whom Madame Claes in her last
moments exhorted to obey their elder sister, accepted her authority with
docility. Her mourning attire heightened the dewy whiteness of her skin,
just as the sadness of her expression threw into relief the gentleness
and patience of her manner. From the first she gave proofs of feminine
courage, of inalterable serenity, like that of angels appointed to shed
peace on suffering hearts by a touch of their waving palms. But although
she trained herself, through a premature perception of duty, to hide her
personal grief, it was none the less bitter; her calm exterior was not
in keeping with the deep trouble of her thoughts, and she was destined
to undergo, too early in life, those terrible outbursts of feeling
which no heart is wholly able to subdue: her father was to hold her
incessantly under the pressure of natural youthful generosity on the one
hand, and the dictates of imperious duty on the other. The cares which
came upon her the very day of her mother's death threw her into a
struggle with the interests of life at an age when young girls are
thinking only of its pleasures. Dreadful discipline of suffering, which
is never lacking to angelic natures!

The love which rests on money or on vanity is the most persevering of
passions. Pierquin resolved to win the heiress without delay. A few days
after Madame Claes's death he took occasion to speak to Marguerite, and
began operations with a cleverness which might have succeeded if
love had not given her the power of clear insight and saved her from
mistaking appearances that were all the more specious because Pierquin
displayed his natural kindheartedness,--the kindliness of a notary who
thinks himself loving while he protects a client's money. Relying on
his rather distant relationship and his constant habit of managing the
business and sharing the secrets of the Claes family, sure of the