shame; I concealed nothing from him, just as you have
related to me all your past life, La Louve. After having listened to me
with kindness, he did not blame, but pitied me; he did not even reproach
me with my disgraceful position, but talked to me of the calm and pure
life which was found in the country."

"As you did just now?"

"Then my situation appeared to me the more frightful, in proportion as
the future he held out to me seemed more beautiful."

"Like me?"

"Yes, and so I said as you did,--What use, alas! is it to make me fancy
this paradise,--me, who am chained to hell? But I was wrong to despair;
for he of whom I speak is so good, so just, that he is incapable of
making a false hope shine in the eyes of a poor creature who asked no
one for pity, happiness, or hope."

"And what did he do for you?"

"He treated me like a sick child. I was, like you, immersed in a
corrupted air, and he sent me to breathe a wholesome and reviving
atmosphere. I was also living amongst hideous and criminal beings, and
he confided me to persons as good as himself, who have purified my soul
and elevated my mind; for he communicates to all those who love and
respect him a spark of his own refined intelligence. Yes, if my words
move you, La Louve, if my tears make your tears flow, it is that his
mind and thought inspire me. If I speak to you of the happier future
which you will obtain by repentance, it is because I can promise you
this future in his name, although, at this moment, he is ignorant of the
engagement I make. In fact, I say to you, Hope! because he always
listens to the voice of those who desire to become better; for God sent
him on earth to make people believe in his providence!"

[Illustration: _La Goualeuse in the prison._
Original Etching by Adrian Marcel.]

As she spoke, Fleur-de-Marie's countenance became radiant, and her pale
cheeks suffused with a delicate carnation; her beautiful eyes
sparkled, and she appeared so touchingly beautiful that La Louve gazed
on her with respectful admiration, and said:

"Where am I? Do I dream? Who are you, then? Oh, I was right when I said
you were not one of us! But, then, you talk so well,--you, who can do so
much, you, who know such powerful people, how is it that you are here, a
prisoner with us?"

Fleur-de-Marie was about to reply, when Madame Armand came up and
interrupted her, to conduct her to Madame d'Harville. La Louve remained
overwhelmed with surprise, and the