"Well! you speak the truth. I am capable of everything. Yes, I did wish to deceive you. Yes, some days before I received my mortal wound I did wish to find a young girl, whom I would have presented to you in the place of our child whom you regret so bitterly."
"Enough—oh! enough, madame."
"After this confession you will believe me, perhaps; or, rather, you will be forced to give credence to the proofs."
"To the proofs?"
"Yes, Rudolph; I repeat it, I have wished to deceive you, to substitute an obscure girl in the place of her we mourn; but Heaven willed that, at the moment when I was about to carry the project into execution, I should be stricken down."
"You! at this moment!"
"Heaven has also willed that they should propose to me to play this part—do you know whom? our daughter."
"Are you delirious? In the name of heaven—-"
"I am not delirious, Rudolph. In this casket, among some papers and a portrait, which will prove to you the truth of what I say, you will find a paper stained with my blood."
"With your blood?"