And who doesn't know that all writings in pencil
resemble each other more or less? Besides, it's certain that
Marguerite, who is simplicity itself, would not have made use of
such pretentious melodramatic phrases. How could I have been so
stupid as to believe that she ever thought or wrote this: 'One
cannot break a promise made to the dying; I shall keep mine even
though my heart break.' And again: 'Forget, therefore, the girl
who has loved you so much: she is now the betrothed of another,
and honor requires she should forget even your name!'" He read
these passages with an extravagant emphasis, which heightened
their absurdity. "And what shall I say of these mistakes in
spelling?" he resumed. "You noticed them, of course, mother?--
command is written with a single 'm,' and supplicate with one 'p.'
These are certainly not mistakes that we can attribute to haste!
Ignorance is proved since the blunder is always the same. The
forger is evidently in the habit of omitting one of the double
letters."
Madame Ferailleur listened with an impassive face. "And these
mistakes are all the more inexcusable since this letter is only a
copy," she observed, quietly.
"What?"
"Yes; a verbatim copy. Yesterday evening, while I was examining
it for the twentieth time, it occurred to me that I had read some
portions of it before. Where, and under what circumstances? It
was a puzzle which kept me awake most of the night.
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