“It is agreed then, is it not, Rose? The first time we are alone with Mother Bunch, we must make her our confidant, and ask her for information. She is so good a person, that she will not refuse us.”
“And when father comes home, he will be pleased, I am sure, with our courage.”
“And will approve our wish to support ourselves, as if we were alone in the world.”
On these words of her sister, Rose started. A cloud of sadness, almost of alarm, passed over her charming countenance, as she exclaimed: “Oh, sister, what a horrible idea!”
“What is the matter? your look frightens me.”
“At the moment I heard you say, that our father would approve our wish to support ourselves, as if we were alone in the world—a frightful thought struck me—I know not why—but feel how my heart beats—just as if some misfortune were about to happen us.”
“It is true; your poor heart beats violently. But what was this thought? You alarm me.”
“When we were prisoners, they did not at least separate us, and, besides, the prison was a kind of shelter—”
“A sad one, though shared with you.”
“But if, when arrived here, any accident had parted us from Dagobert—if we had been left alone, without help, in this great town?”