Monsieur d'Avigny with deep emotion drew the young girl, who was attired in deep mourning, to his bosom, while the tears fell on Valentine's cheeks.
"My dearly beloved child," he said, with tenderness. "Thank God that my old eyes are permitted to see you once more."
"And my father?" asked Valentine, sobbing.
"You will see him, Valentine. Remain patient for a little while longer; he wants to see the district-attorney, and, as far as I understand, it is about some former injustice which he wishes to repair. Confide in me, I shall call you when the time comes. In the meantime take some refreshment, as you must be weak from the journey."
Valentine and Julie withdrew to an apartment which had been prepared for them, and d'Avigny and Morrel remained alone.
"If I could only understand," said the old man meditatively, "how Monsieur de Villefort ever could have such a daughter."
"Perhaps Valentine's mother, Mademoiselle de St. Meran, had a noble nature."
"I hardly think so. Of course I did not know Monsieur de Villefort's first wife, but, from what I have heard of her, she was very miserly, and a fit companion for her husband. Old Madame de St. Meran, too, was not exactly a tender-hearted woman."
"But she loved Valentine dearly," Morrel remarked.