"No, no," replied the notary, quickly; "don't tremble so; they both live, but they have been stricken by a great misfortune."
"Well? well?" exclaimed Gustave, with questioning eagerness, rising from his chair.
"Be calm, be calm, sir," said the notary, soothingly; "sit down and listen; it is not so terrible as you may perhaps think, since fortune enables you to soften their misery."
"Oh, God be thanked!" cried Gustave. "But let me beg you to hasten your disclosures, for your slowness racks me!"
"Know, then," continued the notary, "that during your absence the bond in question fell due. For many months De Vlierbeck made unavailing efforts to find money to honor it at maturity; but all his property was mortgaged, and no one would assist him. In order to escape the mortification of a forced sale, De Vlierbeck offered every thing at public auction, even down to his furniture and clothes! The sale produced about enough to pay his debts, and everybody was satisfied by the honorable conduct of De Vlierbeck, who plunged himself into absolute beggary to save his name."
"And so he lives in the château of his family only as a tenant?"
"No; he has left it."
"And where does he reside, then? I want to see him instantly."
"I do not know."
"How?—you do not know?"