"And you, Bertha,—do you also disclaim all knowledge of the transaction?"
"Yes, I only wish I had known."
"It was not you, then?" replied Maurice, more and more astonished. "Who could it have been? I have no intimate friend in Washington but Gaston de Bois, and he has not the power to do me this service."
"Was he aware of the circumstances which made you need this sum?" asked Bertha.
"He certainly knew something of the transaction, but I do not think"—
"That is enough!" she replied, joyfully. "If he knew anything about it, I know from whom the money came. There is but one person who could have sent it; and that is Madeleine!"
"Madeleine?"
"Yes, Madeleine,—our own, generous Madeleine," returned Bertha. "M. de Bois is her trusted friend and counsellor."
The Countess de Gramont rose up majestically, white with rage.
"But what right has she, the mantua-maker, the tradeswoman, to make use of my name? How did she dare even to allow it to be suspected that I had ever come in contact with a person who has so demeaned herself? It is unpardonable audacity!"