"But this is not all, M. de Maillefort, I have a still greater favour to ask of you. Aided by your counsels, my daughter Ernestine will be as happy as she is rich. Her future is as bright and as well assured as any person's can be, but it is very different concerning the future of a poor but noble-hearted creature, whom—I—I wish that you—"
Madame de Beaumesnil paused. Say more she dared not—could not.
Though she had resolved to tell M. de Maillefort the secret of Herminie's birth, in the hope of ensuring her child the protection of this generous man, she shrank from the shame of such a confession,—a confession which would also have been a violation of the solemn oath she had taken years before, and faithfully kept.
The marquis, seeing her hesitate, said, gently:
"What is it, madame? Will you not be kind enough to tell me what other service I can render you? Do you not know that you can depend upon me as one of the most devoted of your friends?"
"I know that! I know that!" gasped Madame de Beaumesnil, "but I dare not—I am afraid—"
The marquis, deeply touched by her distress, endeavoured to make it easier for her to prefer her request by saying:
"When you checked yourself just now, madame, you were speaking, I think, of the uncertain future of a poor but noble-hearted creature. Who is she? And in what way can I be of service to her?"
Overcome with grief and increasing weakness, Madame de Beaumesnil buried her face in her hands, and burst into tears; then, after a brief silence, riveting her weeping eyes on the marquis, and endeavouring to appear more calm, she said, brokenly:
"Yes, you might be of the greatest possible service to a poor girl—worthy in every respect—of your interest, for she, too, is an orphan—a most unfortunate orphan,—for she is both friendless and penniless, but, oh, so brave, and so proud! In short, she is an angel," cried the countess, with a vehemence at which M. de Maillefort marvelled greatly. "Yes," continued Madame de Beaumesnil, sobbing violently, "Yes, she is an angel of courage and of virtue, and it is for this angel that I ask the same fatherly interest I asked for my daughter Ernestine. Oh, M. de Maillefort, do not refuse my request, I beseech you!"