ed, with such a love as mine, a hundred
times at least should I have passed my hand between these iron bars, and
said, 'Take this hand, dearest Maximilian, and believe that, living
or dead, I am yours--yours only, and forever!'" The poor girl made no
reply, but her lover could plainly hear her sobs and tears. A rapid
change took place in the young man's feelings. "Dearest, dearest
Valentine," exclaimed he, "forgive me if I have offended you, and forget
the words I spoke if they have unwittingly caused you pain."

"No, Maximilian, I am not offended," answered she, "but do you not see
what a poor, helpless being I am, almost a stranger and an outcast in
my father's house, where even he is seldom seen; whose will has been
thwarted, and spirits broken, from the age of ten years, beneath the
iron rod so sternly held over me; oppressed, mortified, and persecuted,
day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, no person has cared for,
even observed my sufferings, nor have I ever breathed one word on the
subject save to yourself. Outwardly and in the eyes of the world, I am
surrounded by kindness and affection; but the reverse is the case. The
general remark is, 'Oh, it cannot be expected that one of so stern a
character as M. Villefort could lavish the tenderness some fathers do
on their daughters. What though she has lost her own mother at a tender
age, she has had the happiness to find a second mother in Madame de
Villefort.' The world, however, is mistaken; my father abandons me from
utter indifference, while my mother-in-law detests me with a hatred so
much the more terrible because it is veiled beneath a continual smile."

"Hate you, sweet Valentine," exclaimed the young man; "how is it
possible for any one to do that?"

"Alas," replied the weeping girl, "I am obliged to own that my
mother-in-law's aversion to me arises from a very natural source--her
overweening love for her own child, my brother Edward."

"But why should it?"

"I do not know; but, though unwilling to introduce money matters into
our present conversation, I will just say this much--that her extreme
dislike to me has its origin there; and I much fear she envies me the
fortune I enjoy in right of my mother, and which will be more than
doubled at the death of M. and Mme. de Saint-Meran, whose sole heiress
I am. Madame de Villefort has nothing of her own, and hates me for being
so richly endowed. Alas, how gladly would I exchange the half of this
wealth fo