"Before I recross
the threshold of your home, all shall have been forgotten. I
swear it by all that is most sacred!"
He had raised his hand as if to take a solemn oath, when the baron
caught hold of it, and, pressing it with sorrowful gratitude,
exclaimed: "I believe you! You are a man of honor--I only needed
to see your home to be convinced of that. You will not laugh at
my misfortunes or my misery!" He must have been suffering
frightfully, for big tears rolled slowly down his cheeks. "What
have I done, my God! that I should be so cruelly punished?" he
continued. "I have always been generous and charitable, and ready
to help all who applied to me. I am utterly alone! I have a wife
and a daughter--but they hate me. They long for my death, which
would give them possession of my wealth. What torture! For months
together I dared not eat a morsel of food, either in my own house,
or in the house of my son-in-law. I feared poison; and I never
partook of a dish until I had seen my daughter or my wife do so.
To prevent a crime, I was obliged to resort to the strangest
expedients. I made a will, and left my property in such a way
that if I die, my family will not receive one penny. So, they now
have an interest in prolonging my life." As he spoke he sprang up
with an almost frenzied air, and, seizing Pascal by the arm, again
continued.
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