‘Uncles or aunts living?’
‘Neither.’
‘Hast any friends who could help thee?’
‘That might depend on what the occasion for help should prove, for I have one friend in the world.’
‘Who is he?’
‘Colonel Mahon, of the Cuirassiers.’
‘I never heard of him—is he here?’
‘No, I left him at Nancy; but I could write to him.’
‘It would be too late, much too late.’
‘How do you mean—too late?’ asked I tremblingly.