“I should call it an incurable grief.”

“Well, Philippe, I adopt your words, for they suit me.”

“Then,” he replied, “brother and sister are alike in their lives: happy together, they have become unhappy at the same time.” Then, thinking further remonstrance useless, he asked, “When do you want to go?”

“To-morrow, even to-day, if it were possible.”

“I shall be ready whenever you require me.”

Andrée retired to make her preparations. Soon she received this note from Philippe:

“You can see our father at five o’clock this evening. You must be prepared for reproaches, but an adieu is indispensable.”

She answered:

“At five o’clock I will be with M. de Taverney all ready to start, and by seven we can be at St. Denis, if you will give me up your evening.”

CHAPTER LV.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE.