forced to blush before
any one. By day I had to encounter all kinds of insults, and, with a
bleeding heart, swallow affront and humiliation."

Lenora looked at her father with eyes moistened by compassion. De
Vlierbeck pressed her hand, and continued:--

"Be not sad, Lenora; if the Lord's hand inflicted deep wounds with every
blow, he bestowed a balm which cured them. One little smile of thy
gentle face was sufficient to make me pour forth an ejaculation to
Heaven: you, you at least were happy, and in your happiness I saw the
fulfilment of my promise!

"At length I thought that God himself had thrown in our path one who
would save you from threatening danger. A mutual inclination arose
between Gustave and you, and a marriage seemed the natural consequence.
Under these circumstances I apprized Monsieur Denecker, during his last
visit, of the deplorable condition of my affairs; but no sooner did I
make the disclosure than he peremptorily refused his consent to the
union. As if this terrible blow, which withered all my hopes, had not
been sufficient to overwhelm me, I learned, almost at the same time,
that the friend who loaned me four thousand francs, with the right to
renew my obligation to him every year, had died in Germany, and that his
heirs demanded the payment of the debt! I ran all over town, rapped at
every friendly door, ransacked heaven and earth in my despair, to escape
this last ignominy; but all my efforts were fruitless. To-morrow,
perhaps, a placard will be stuck on the door of Grinselhof, announcing
the sale not only of our estate but also of our furniture and of every
trifling object that memory and association have rendered dear to us.
Honor requires that we shall surrender, to public sale, every thing of
the least value to pay our debts. If fate were kind enough to allow us
to satisfy every creditor it would be a great consolation, my child, in
our misery. Does not this fatal history break your heart?"

"Is that all which makes you despond, father? Have you no other grief?
Does your heart conceal no other secret from me?" asked Lenora.

"None, my child. You know every thing."

"I can very well understand," replied Lenora, gravely, "that others
would consider a blow like this as a frightful misfortune; but how can
it affect us? You even appear calm. Why, father, do you, like me, appear
indifferent to the inexorable decree of fate?"

"Because you have inspired me with courage and confidence, Leno