«4
THE BOMANCE OF A POOE YOUNG MAN.

ane, " Ah ! if you knew it, why did you not
«peak?"
Well, no ! neither to-day, nor to-morrow,
nor ever, if I can help it, shall those noble
«faces blush with shame. I will not purchase
my happiness at the price of their humiliation.
This secret, known only to me, which this old
«nan, henceforth mute forever, cannot betray
—tlîis secret exists no longer—the flames have
devoured it!
I had considered it well. I know what I
have dared to do. It was a will—a testament
—and I have destroyed it ! Moreover, it would
jnot have benefited" me alone. My sister,
who is confided to my care, would have gained
.a fortune through it—and, without her con-
sent, I have thrust her back into poverty with
my own hand. I know all that. But two
pure, elevated, proud souls will not be crushed
and blighted by the weight of a crime which
was foreign to them. There is here a principle
-of equity whieh seemed to me superior to aU
literal justice. If I have committed a crime,
in my turn I will answer for it ! But this in-
ward struggle has wearied me. I can write
no longer.
October 4.
M. Laubepin arrived at length this evening.
He came for a moment only, to speak to me.
He was abstracted, abrupt and dissatisfied.
He spoke to me very briefly of the proposed
marriage : " A very happy operation," said he ;
" a very praiseworthy union in aU respects,
where nature and society both find the guaran-
tees that they have a right te demand on such
an occasiou. Upon which, young man, I wish
you a good-night, and I will go and clear the
ticklish ground of the preliminary articles, iu
order that the car of this interesting Hymen
may reach its destination without jolting."
The contract is to be signed at one o'clock
"to-day, in the saloon, in the presence of friends,
and the customary attendants. I cannot be
present at the ceremony, and I bless my injury,
which has saved me from enduring this tor-
ture.
I was writing to my Uttle Helen, to whom I
«hall endeavor for the future to devote all my
thoughts, when M. Laubepin and Mlle, de
Porhoet entered my room. M. Laubepin had
sot failed to appreciate the many virtues of my
venerable friend during his frequent visits to
Laroque, and a warm, respectful attachment
has existed for a long time between these two
old people. After an interminable exchange
of ceremonies, salutations and bows, they took
ihe seats I had prepared for them, and began
«So look at me with and air of great beatitude.
" Weil," said I, " is it ended ?"
"It is ended !" they replied, in concert»
" Has everything gone on weU ?"
" Very well," said Mlle, de Porhoet.
" ExceUently," added M. Laubepin. Then,
after a pause, "That BévaUan is gone to the
devil !"
" And young Helouin is on the same road,"
added MUe. de Porhoet."
I uttered an exclamation of surprise : " Good
God, what does all this mean ?"
"My friend," said M. Laubepin, "the pro-
posed union presented all the' advantages
desirable, and it would have secured undoubt-
edly the mutual happiness of the parties, if
marriage were a purely commercial association ;
hut it is not so. My duty in these interesting
circumstances was, since my assistance was
demanded, to consult the incUnation of the
hearts, and the suitableness of the characters,
as well as the proportion of their fortunes. But
I perceived from the first that the marriage in
question had the inconvenience not to exactly
please any one, neither my excellent friend,
Madame Laroque, nor the amiable bride, nor
the clearest-sighted friends of these ladies ;
nobody, in short, unless it were tho bridegroom,
about whom I cared very little. It is true (this
remark ie due to MUe de Porhoet), it is true,
I said to myself that the bridegroom is gen-
tle------»
' ' A gentleman, if you please," interrupted
MUe. de Porhoet, in a stern voiee.
y *Tentl«ttan." returned M. Laubepin, ac-
cepting the amendment ; " but it is a kind of
gentleman which does not please me."
" Neither does it please me," said MUe. de
Porhoet. " He was one of the buffoons of his
species, and resembled those mannerless grooms
that we saw in the last century, issue from the
English stables, under the management of the
Due de Chartres, as a prelude to the revolu-
tion."
" Oh ! If they had done nothing but act as
a prelude to the revolution, one could forgive
them," said M. Laubepin.
" I ask a thousand pardons, my dear sir ;
but speak for yourself. Besides, there is no
need of discussing that ; will you continue ?"
" Therefore," resumed M. Laubepin, " see-
ing that all were going to these nuptials as to
a funeral, I sought for some means, both hon-
orable' and legal, not to break our faith with
M. de Bévallan, but to induce him to with-
draw from the marriage. This was the more
allowable, because, in my absence, M. de Béval-
lan had taken advantage of the inexperience of
my friend, Madame Laroque, and the softness
of my confrère from Rennes, in order to secure
himself most exorbitant interests. Without
departing from the letter of the articles agreed
on, I succeeded in sensibly modifying their
spirit. However, honor and the promises given
imposed bounds I could not break. The con-
tract, in spite of all I could do, remained quite
as advantageous as any man could accept, who
possessed the least nobleness of soul, and ten-
derness for his future wife. Was M. de Béval-
lan this man ? We must risk the chance of
that. I confess to you that I was not unmoved
when I began the reading this morning of this
irrevocable instrument before an imposing au-
dience."
" For myself," interrupted mademoiselle, " I
had not a drop of blood in my veins. The first
part gave so fine a portion to the enemy, that I
gave up all for lost."
" Without doubt, mademoiselle ; but, as we
say, the venom is in the tail, in cauda venenum.
It was pleasant, my friend, to see the faces of
M. de BévaUan and that of my colleague from
Rennes, who was present, when I abruptly
unmasked my batteries. They looked at each
other in silence at first, then they whispered
together, and finally they rose, and approach-
ing the table before which I was seated, asked,
in a low voice, for explanations."
" ' Speak aloud, if you please, gentlemen,'
said I to them ; ' there is no need of mystery
here.    What do you wish ?'
" The spectators began to attend to the con-
versation. M. de Bévallan, without raising his
voice, insinuated that this contract was a sus-
picious work.
'"A suspicious work !' I replied, in as loud
a voice as possible. ' What do you mean by
that ? Is it against Madame Laroque, against
me, or against my colleague here present, that
you direct this strange imputation ?'
" ' Chut ! silence ! no noise !' said the notary
from Rennes, in a prudent tone ; ' but see, it
was agreed from the first that the marriage set-
tlement should be dispensed with------'
" ' The marriage settlement, sir ? And where
do you find any question of a marriage settle-
ment?'
" ' Come, brother, you know very well that
you restore the marriage settlement by a sub-
terfuge.'
" ' Subterfuge, brother ! Permit me, as your
senior, to advise you to erase that word from
your vocabulary.'
" ' But, reaUy,' muttered M. de Bévallan,
' my hands are tied on all sides ; I am treated
like a little boy.'
"'How, monsieur? What are we doing
here, according to you? Is this a contract or a
will? You forget that Madame Laroque is
living, that her father-in-law is living, that you
are marrying, not inheriting—not yet, at least,
monsieur ; have a little patience ; what the
deuce——J"
"At these words MUe. Marguerite rose.
' That is enough,' said she. ' Mon sieur Laube-
pin, throw the contract into the fire. Mother,
return the gentleman his presents.'   Then she
left the room, with the step of an insulted qcaea.
Madame Laroque followed her. At the same
moment I threw the contract into the fireplace.
" ' Monsieur,' said M. de Bévallan to me, in
a threatening tone, ' there is some manœuvre
here, of which I will learn the secret.'
" ' I will tell it to you,' I replied to him. ' A
young person, who has a just pride in herself,
had conceived the fear that your wooing was
addressed solely to her fortune ; she no longer
doubts it. I have the honor to wish you a good
day.'
" From him I went to find the two ladies,
who, on my faith, threw their arms around my
neck. A quarter of an hour afterward M. de
Bévallan quitted the chateau with my colleague
from Rennes. His departure and his disgrace
had the inevitable result of unloosing the
tongues of the domestics, and his impudent in-
trigue with MUe. Helouin was soon known.
The young woman, suspected for some time
past in other respects, asked for her dismissal,
and it was not refused her. It is needless to
add that the ladies will secure her a comforta-
ble support. Well, my lad, what do you say
to all this ? Are you suffering more ? You
are as pale as a dead man."
The truth is, that this unlooked-for news had
given rise to such a crowd of happy and pain-
ful feelings that I nearly fainted.
M. Laubepin, who was to set out on his re-
turn the next morning at sunrise, came this
evening to say good-by. After a few embar-
rassed words between us he said, " There, my
dear child, I am not going to question you as
to what has taken place here ; but if, by chance,
you need a confidant and a counsellor, I ask
your preference."
I could not unbosom myself to a more trusty
friend. I gave the worthy old man a detailed
account of all the circumstances affecting my
relations with Mlle. Marguerite since my arri-
val at the chateau. I even read him some
pages of this journal in order to show him more
precisely the state of those relations, and the
state of my feelings. And, finally, the secret
that I had discovered the preceding day among
the papers ofM. Laroque; I concealed nothing
from him.
When I had ended, M. Laubepin, whose face
had become very thoughtful and anxious, re-
plied, "It is useless to disguise from you that
in sending you hither I meditated a union be-
tween you and MUe. Laroque. All went, at
.first, according to my wishes. Your hearts,
which in my opinion, are worthy of each other,
seemed to approach insensibly ; but this
strange adventure of which Elven was the ro-
mantic theatre, entirely disconcerts me, I ac-
knowledge. What the deuce, my friend, to
leap from the window at the risk of breaking
your neck ; this was, let me tell you, a sufficient
proof of your disinterestedness ; it was quite
superfluous to add to this honorable proceed-
ing, the solemn oath never to marry this poor
child, except in contingencies which we cannot
possibly hope for. I pride myself on being a man
of resources, but I own I am incapable of giving
you two hundred thousand francs a year or of
taking them away from MUe. Laroque 1"
" Well, sir, give me your counsel. I have
more confidence in you than in myself, for I
feel that misfortune, by constantly exposing me
to suspicion, has roused in me the sensitiveness
of honor even to excess. Speak. Will you
tell me to forget the unwise, but still solemn
oath which, at this moment, alone separates
me, I believe, from the happiness you have
dreamed of for your adopted son ?"
M. Laubepin rose and paced the room for
some minutes, with his thick eyebrows drawn
down over his eyes ; then stopped, aud seizing
my hand, "Young man," said he, "it is true
I love you as my own child ; but, were your
heart to break and mine with yours, I cannot
trifle with my principles. It is better to exceed
the demands of honor than to fall short of
them ; in the matter of oaths, aU those whieh
are not exacted at the point of the sword, or at
the mouth of a pistol, should be either not
taken, or if taken, should be kept. Sueh is
my opinion."
-V