these particulars, but gratitude
mingled with his sorrow: he would gladly have embraced those who had
given his father this proof of esteem at a moment when his honor was so
powerfully attacked. "At this moment one of the door-keepers brought
in a letter for the president. 'You are at liberty to speak, M. de
Morcerf,' said the president, as he unsealed the letter; and the count
began his defence, I assure you, Albert, in a most eloquent and skilful
manner. He produced documents proving that the Vizier of Yanina had up
to the last moment honored him with his entire confidence, since he had
interested him with a negotiation of life and death with the emperor. He
produced the ring, his mark of authority, with which Ali Pasha generally
sealed his letters, and which the latter had given him, that he might,
on his return at any hour of the day or night, gain access to the
presence, even in the harem. Unfortunately, the negotiation failed, and
when he returned to defend his benefactor, he was dead. 'But,' said the
count, 'so great was Ali Pasha's confidence, that on his death-bed he
resigned his favorite mistress and her daughter to my care.'" Albert
started on hearing these words; the history of Haidee recurred to him,
and he remembered what she had said of that message and the ring, and
the manner in which she had been sold and made a slave. "And what effect
did this discourse produce?" anxiously inquired Albert. "I acknowledge
it affected me, and, indeed, all the committee also," said Beauchamp.

"Meanwhile, the president carelessly opened the letter which had been
brought to him; but the first lines aroused his attention; he read them
again and again, and fixing his eyes on M. de Morcerf, 'Count,' said he,
'you have said that the Vizier of Yanina confided his wife and daughter
to your care?'--'Yes, sir,' replied Morcerf; 'but in that, like all the
rest, misfortune pursued me. On my return, Vasiliki and her daughter
Haidee had disappeared.'--'Did you know them?'--'My intimacy with the
pasha and his unlimited confidence had gained me an introduction to
them, and I had seen them above twenty times.'

"'Have you any idea what became of them?'--'Yes, sir; I heard they had
fallen victims to their sorrow, and, perhaps, to their poverty. I was
not rich; my life was in constant danger; I could not seek them, to my
great regret.' The president frowned imperceptibly. 'Gentlemen,' said
he, 'you have heard the Comte de Morcerf's defenc