F., in case any one could
condescend to think of him, after the disgrace we fastened upon
him the other evening at the house of Madame d'A----."
"Nor is this all," resumed Mademoiselle Marguerite. "There are
other letters which will prove that this plot was the marquis's
work and which give the name of his accomplice, Coralth. And
these letters are in the possession of a man of dubious integrity,
who was once the marquis's ally, but who has now become his enemy.
He is known as Isidore Fortunat, and lives in the Place de la
Bourse."
Marguerite felt that Madame Ferailleur's keen glance was riveted
upon her. She intuitively divined what was passing in the mind of
the puritanical old lady, and realized that her whole future, and
the happiness of her entire wedded life, depended upon her conduct
at that moment. So, desirous of making a full confession, she
hastily exclaimed: "My conduct may have seemed strange in a young
girl, Pascal. A timid, inexperienced girl, who had been carefully
kept from all knowledge of life and evil, would have been crushed
by such a burden of disgrace, and could only have wept and prayed.
I did weep and pray; but I also struggled and fought. In the hour
of peril I found myself endowed with some of the courage and
energy which distinguished the poor women of the people among whom
I formerly earned my bread.
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