“Alas, sir, how have they changed?”
“How? What do you mean? Don’t you see me? Do you think I would leave you, after having been just in time to save your life? That would be nice! No, my dear child, compose yourself; poverty shall not come near you again, I’ll see to that. You want somebody to advise you, to defend you; and here I am; if you have enemies, let them beware! Come, smile again, and think of the good times a-coming.”
But she did not smile; she looked frightened, almost stupefied. Making a supreme effort, she looked fixedly at the old man to see if she could read in his face what were his real thoughts. He, on his part, was seriously troubled by his failure to inspire her with confidence.
“Do you doubt my promises?” he asked her.
She shook her head; and uttering her words one by one, as if to give them greater weight, she said,—
“I beg your pardon, sir. I do not doubt you. But I cannot understand why you should offer me your kind protection.”
Papa Ravinet affected a greater surprise than he really felt, and said, raising his hands to heaven,—
“Great God! she mistrusts my good will.”
“Sir!”
“Pray what can you have to fear from me? I am an old man; you are almost a child. I come to help you. Is not that perfectly natural, and quite simple?”