I trembled lest the scandal of a separation should
fall upon her. But it was useless suffering on my part. She was
as surely lost as you yourself were; and it was your work, too!"
"What! you blame me for that?"
"Whom ought I to blame, then? Who took her to balls, and theatres
and races--to every place where a young girl ought NOT to be
taken? Who initiated her into what you call high life? and who
used her as a discreet and easy chaperon? Who married her to a
wretch who is a disgrace to the title he bears, and who has
completed the work of demoralization you began? And what is your
daughter to-day? Her extravagance has made her notorious even
among the shameless women who pretend to be leaders of society.
She is scarcely twenty-two, and there is not a single prejudice
left for her to brave! Her husband is the companion of actresses
and courtesans; her own companions are no better--and in less than
two years the million of francs which I bestowed on her as a dowry
has been squandered, recklessly squandered--for there isn't a
penny of it left. And, at this very hour, my daughter and my son-
in-law are plotting to extort money from me. On the day before
yesterday--listen carefully to this--my son-in-law came to ask me
for a hundred thousand francs, and when I refused them, he
threatened if I did not give them to him that he would publish
some letters written by my daughter--by his wife--to some low
scoundrel.
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