"What is in this big chest?" said Julia.
"It is empty, as you see. I don't know what use it is here, I shall burn it some day."
Julia stooped and lifted the chest, the better to examine it, then she thought she saw some object on the floor. She carried her light there, and found that it was an old portfolio of brown leather, which seemed to have been hidden beneath the chest, and appeared to have been there for some years, for the dust was thick around it. Julia uttered a joyful cry and seized the portfolio.
"What is it?" said Marguerite, "what have you got there?"
"Something tells me that in this portfolio I shall find that for which I am looking."
"This portfolio? O my God! where was it, then?"
"Silence—come, let us shut this door again."
Julia left the closet, shutting the door, and when she had replaced the lamp on the table, hastened to examine the portfolio and the papers which it held. Meanwhile, Marguerite, still uneasy, remained listening near the door, but while doing so she watched Julia, whose features expressed the most lively agitation. Suddenly a cruel joy flashed in the young Italian's eyes, and she dropped on a seat near the table, exclaiming,—
"I shall be avenged."
"But who can that portfolio belong to?" said Marguerite.