At this price, she would have sold, not only one, but three daughters, if she had possessed them.
But suddenly her blood ran cold at a sudden thought, which crossed her mind.
“Would Valentine consent?”
Her anxiety to set her mind at rest sent her straightway to her daughter’s room. She found Valentine reading by the light of a flickering candle.
“My daughter,” she said abruptly, “an estimable young man has demanded your hand in marriage, and I have promised it to him.”
On this startling announcement, Valentine started up and clasped her hands.
“Impossible!” she murmured, “impossible!”
“Will you be good enough to explain why it is impossible?”
“Did you tell him, mother, who I am, what I am? Did you confess——”
“Your past fully? No, thank God, I am not fool enough for that, and I hope you will have the sense to imitate my example, and keep silent on the subject.”