In a transport of abnegation, he kissed her cheeks and said:
"I will."
In confirmation of his promise, he drew the casket of documents from his breast and held them toward her.
"Here they are," he said. "Here are the papers which sustain my claims. They are of such a nature, especially the testimony of the unhappy Pichegru, Charette, Hoche and Josephine that I could demand the throne by presenting them in a court. I despoil myself of my personality, of my strength. I become again Naundorff, the obscure mechanic, the impostor, the convict, the outlaw! Take the papers, Marie Thérèse, I give them to you. The sacrifice is accomplished. Have you more to ask of me? And now, sister, holy love of my life, all that remains to me of my mother,—call me once more Charles Louis—let me rest my forehead on your breast."
She was scarcely able to control herself. He attracted and repelled her by turns. She was about to extend her hand for the papers when, by the light of the setting sun, intense and red, he so greatly resembled her father that she dared not accomplish her purpose. With involuntary reverence, she said:
"No, Charles Louis, the papers are yours. Keep them. Promise me, only, that you will not misuse them. I shall be satisfied with your word. I ask this of you because I must. Accept your fate, as I accept mine. Accept it as you would a cross. O Charles Louis, the Past is irrevocable, your Past and mine, and who knows which of us has suffered the more greatly? Farewell, farewell, my brother. Do not forget your oath."
"I shall remember it, my sister. God bless you! I have received all that I expected from you. I count this day happy. I shall remove with my family to Holland. May my children never suffer the pangs of poverty! I trust that no further assaults will be made upon my life. And now, for one moment—"
He laid his head upon the lady's shoulder and wept.