means to ascertain
every thing about her, and even to learn the precise amount of her
income? America is not so far off!"

M. de Brevan's face no longer expressed astonishment; he looked
absolutely bewildered.

"What!" he cried out, "could you seriously think of undertaking a trip
to America?"

"Why not?"

"To be sure, my dear friend, you are, in all sincerity, too naive for
our age. What! have you not yet been able to divine Miss Brandon's
plan? And yet it is patent enough. When she saw you, and had taken your
measure, she said to herself, 'Here is an excellent young man who is in
my way, excessively in my way; he must go and breathe a better air a few
thousand miles off.' And thereupon she suggested to you that pleasant
trip to America."

After what Daniel had learned about Miss Brandon's character, this
explanation sounded by no means improbable. Nevertheless, he was not
quite satisfied. He objected to it thus:--

"Whether I go or stay, the wedding will still take place. Consequently,
she has no interest in my being abroad. Believe me, Maxime, there is
something else underneath. Outside of this marriage, Miss Brandon must
be pursuing some other plan."

"What plan?"

"Ah! That is what I cannot find out, to save my life. But you may be
sure that I am not mistaken. I want no better evidence of it than the
fact that she wrote to me this morning."

M. de Brevan jumped up, and said,--

"What! She has written to you?"

"Yes; it is that accursed letter, more than any thing else, that brings
me here. Here it is, just read it; and, if you can understand it, you
are more fortunate than I am."

At one glance M. de Brevan had read the five lines which Miss Brandon
had written; and, turning deadly pale, he said,--

"This is incomprehensible. A note, and such an indiscreet note, from her
who never writes!"

He looked upon Daniel as if he wished to penetrate his innermost
thoughts, and then asked him, weighing his words with the utmost care,--

"If she should really love you, what would you say?"

Daniel looked disgusted. He replied,--"It is hardly generous in you to
make sport of me, Maxime. I may be a fool; but I am not an idiot, to be
conceited to that degree."

"That is no answer to my question," said Brevan; "and I repeat my
question. What would you say?"

"I would say that I execrate her!"

"Oh! if you hate her so bitterly, you are very near loving her."

"I despise her; and without esteem"--

"T