MURPHY AND RODOLPH.
Upon quitting the house, Rodolph bent his steps towards the farmyard,
where he found the individual who, the preceding evening, disguised as a
charcoal-man, had warned him of the arrival of Tom and Sarah. Murphy,
which was the name of this personage, was about fifty years of age; his
head, nearly bald, was still ornamented with a fringe of light brown
hair at each side, which the hand of time had here and there slightly
tinged with gray; his face was broad, open, and ruddy, and free from all
appearance of hair, except very short whiskers, of a reddish colour,
only reaching as low as the tip of the ear, from which it diverged, and
stretched itself in a gentle curve across his rubicund cheeks. Spite of
his years and _embonpoint_, Murphy was active and athletic; his
countenance, though somewhat phlegmatic, was expressive of great
resolution and kindliness of nature; he wore a white neck-handkerchief,
a deep waistcoat, and a long black coat, with very wide skirts; his
breeches, of an olive green colour, corresponded in material with the
gaiters which protected his sturdy legs, without reaching entirely to
the knee, but allowing the strings belonging to his upper garment to
display themselves in long unstudied bows; in fact, the dress and whole
_tournure_ of Murphy exactly accorded with the idea of what in England
is styled a "gentleman farmer." Now, the personage we are describing,
though an English squire, was no farmer. At the moment of Rodolph's
appearance in the yard, Murphy was in the act of depositing, in the
pocket of a small travelling _caléche_, a pair of small pistols he had
just been carefully cleaning.
"What the devil are you going to do with those pistols?" inquired
Rodolph.
"That is my business, my lord," replied Murphy, descending the carriage
steps; "attend to your affairs, and I will mind mine."
"At what o'clock have you ordered the horses?"
"According to your directions,--at nightfall."
"You got here this morning, I suppose?"
"I did, at eight o'clock. Madame Georges has had ample time to make all
the preparations you desired."
"What has gone wrong, Murphy? You seem completely out of humour. Have I
done anything to offend you?"
"Can you not, my lord, accomplish your self-imposed task without
incurring so much personal risk?"
"Surely, in order to lull all suspicion in the minds of the persons I
seek to understand and fully appreciate, I cannot do better than, for a
time, to adopt their garb, their language, and their customs."
"But all this did not prevent you, my lord, last night (in that
abominable place where we went to unkennel Bras Rouge, in hopes of
getting out of him some particulars relative to that unhappy son of
Madame Georges), from being angry, and ready to quarrel with me, because
I wished to aid in your tussle with the rascal you encountered in that
horrid cut-throat alley."
"I suppose, then, Murphy, you do not think I am capable of defending
myself, and you either doubt my courage or the strength of my arm?"
"Unfortunately, you have given me too many reasons to form a contrary
opinion of both. Thank God! Flatman, the Bertrand of Germany, perfected
you in the knowledge of fencing; Tom Cribb taught you to box; Lacour, of
Paris, accomplished you in single-stick, wrestling, and slang, so as to
render you fully provided for your venturesome excursions. You are bold
as a lion, with muscles like iron, and, though so slight in form, I
should have no more chance with you than a dray-horse would against a
racer, were they to compete with each other. No mistake about that."
"Then what are you afraid of?"
"Why, I maintain, my lord, that it is not the right thing for you to
throw yourself in the way of all these blackguards. I do not say that
because of the nuisance it is to a highly respectable individual of my
acquaintance to blacken his face with charcoal, and make himself look
like a devil. No, God knows, spite of my age, my figure, and my gravity,
I would disguise myself as a rope-dancer, if, by so doing, I could serve
you. But I still stick to what I say, and--"
"Oh! I know all you would say, my excellent old fellow, and that when
once you have taken an idea into your thick skull, the very devil
himself could no more drive it out of you than he could, by all his
arts, remove the fidelity and devotion implanted in your brave and
valiant heart."
"Come, come, my lord, now you begin to flatter me, I suspect you are up
to some fresh mischief."
"Think no such thing, Murphy; give yourself no uneasiness, but leave all
to me."
"My lord, I cannot be easy; there is some new folly in hand, and I am
sure of it."
"My good friend, you mean well; but you are choosing a very ill hour for
your lectures; forbear, I beg."
"And why, my lord, can you not listen to me now, as well as any other
time?"
"Because you are interfering with one of my short-lived moments of pride
and happiness. I am here, in this dear spot!"
"Where you have done so much good. I know it. Your 'model farm,' as you
term it, built by you to instruct, to encourage, and to reward deserving
labourers, has been of incalculable service to this part of the country.
Ordinary men think but of improving their cattle; you, more wisely and
benevolently, have directed your exertions for the bettering your fellow
creatures. Nothing can be better; and when you placed Madame Georges at
the head of the establishment, you acted with the utmost wisdom and
provident good sense. What a woman she is! No, she is an angel!--so
good, so firm, so noble, and upright! I am not easily moved, my lord, as
you know; but often have I felt my eyes grow moist, as her many trials
and misfortunes rise to my recollection. But about your new protégée,
however, my lord; if you please, we will not say much on that subject.
'The least said is soonest mended,' as the old proverb has it."
"Why not, Murphy?"
"My lord, you will do what you think proper."
"I do what is just," said Rodolph, with an air of impatience.
"What is just, according to your own interpretation."
"What is just before God and my own conscience," replied Rodolph, in a
severe tone.
"Well, my lord, this is a point on which we cannot agree, and therefore
let us speak no more about it."
"I desire you will continue to talk about it!" cried Rodolph,
imperiously.
"I have never been so circumstanced that your royal highness should have
to bid me hold my tongue, and I hope I shall not now be ordered to speak
when I should be silent," said Murphy, proudly.
"Mr. Murphy!" said Rodolph, with a tone of increased irritation.
"My lord!"
"You know, sir, how greatly I detest anything like concealment."
"Your royal highness will excuse me, but it suits me to have certain
concealments," said Murphy, bluntly.
"If I descend to familiarity with you, sir, it is on condition that you,
at least, act with entire frankness towards me."
It is impossible to describe the extreme hauteur which marked the
countenance of Rodolph as he uttered these words.
"I am fifty years of age, I am a gentleman, and your royal highness
should not address me in such a tone."
"Be silent!"
"My lord!"
"Be silent! I say."
"Your royal highness does wrong in compelling a man of honour and
feeling to recall the services he has rendered to you," said the squire,
in a calm tone.
"Have I not repaid those services in a thousand ways?"
It should be stated that Rodolph had not attached to these bitter words
the humiliating sense which could place Murphy in the light of a
mercenary; but such, unfortunately, was the esquire's interpretation of
them. He became purple with shame, lifted his two clenched hands to his
forehead with an expression of deep grief and indignation, and then, in
a moment, as by a sudden revulsion of feeling, throwing his eyes on
Rodolph, whose noble countenance was convulsed by the violence of
extreme disdain, he said, in a faltering voice, and stifling a sigh of
the tenderest pity, "My lord, be yourself; you surpass the bounds of
reason."
These words impelled Rodolph to the very height of irritation; his
glance had even a savage glare in it; his lips were blanched; and,
advancing towards Murphy with a threatening aspect, he exclaimed, "Dare
you?"
Murphy retreated, and said, in a quick tone, and as if in spite of
himself, "My lord, my lord, _remember the thirteenth of January!_"
These words produced a magical effect on Rodolph. His countenance,
contracted by anger, now expanded. He looked at Murphy steadfastly,
bowed his head, and then, after a moment's silence, murmured, in
faltering accents, "Ah, sir, you are now cruel, indeed. I had thought
that my repentance--my deep remorse--and yet it is you--you--"
Rodolph could not finish; his voice was stifled; he sunk, subdued, on a
stone bench, and concealed his countenance with both his hands.
"My lord," said Murphy, in deep distress, "my good lord, forgive me!
Forgive your old and faithful Murphy. It was only when driven to an
extremity, and fearing, alas! not for myself, but for you, the
consequences of your passion, that I uttered those words. I said them in
spite of myself, and with sorrow. My lord, I was wrong to be so
sensitive. _Mon Dieu!_ who can know your character, your feelings, if I
do not,--I, who have never left you from your childhood! Pray, oh, pray
say that you forgive me for having called to your recollection that sad,
sad day. Alas! what expiations have you not made--"
Rodolph raised his head; he was very pale, and said to his companion, in
a gentle and saddened voice, "Enough, enough, my old friend; I thank you
for having, by one word, checked my headlong passion. I make no
apologies to you for the severe things I have said; you know well that
'it is a long way from the heart to the lips,' as the good people at
home say. I was wrong; let us say no more on the subject."
"Alas! now we shall be out of spirits for a long time, as if I were not
sufficiently unhappy! I only wished to see you roused from your low
spirits, and yet I add to them by my foolish tenaciousness. Good Heaven!
what's the use of being an honest man, and having gray hairs, if it does
not enable us to endure reproaches which we do not deserve?"
"Be it so, be it so; we were both in the wrong, my good friend," said
Rodolph, mildly; "let us forget it, and return to our former
conversation. You approved entirely of my establishment of this farm,
and the deep interest I have always felt in Madame Georges. You will
allow, won't you, that she had merited it by her excellent qualities,
her misfortunes, even if she did not belong to the family of
Harville,--a family to which my father had vowed eternal gratitude."
"I have always approved of the sentiments which your lordship has
entertained for Madame Georges."
"But you are astonished at the interest I take in this poor girl, are
you not?"
"Pray, pray, my lord, I was wrong; I was wrong."
"No, I can imagine that appearances have deceived you; but, as you know
my life--all my life, and as you aid me always with as much fidelity as
courage in my self-inflicted expiation, it is my duty, or, if you like
the phrase better, my gratitude, to convince you that I am not acting
from a frivolous impulse."
"Of that I am sure, my lord."
"You know my ideas on the subject of the good which a man ought to do
who has the knowledge, the will, and the power. To succour unhappy, but
deserving, fellow creatures is well; to seek after those who are
struggling against misfortune with energy and honour, and to aid them,
sometimes without their knowledge,--to prevent, in right time, misery
and temptation, is better; to reinstate such perfectly in their own
estimation,---to lead back to honesty those who have preserved in purity
some generous and ennobling sentiments in the midst of the contempt that
withers them, the misery that eats into them, the corruption that
encircles them, and, for that end, to brave, in person, this misery,
this corruption, this contagion, is better still; to pursue, with
unalterable hatred, with implacable vengeance, vice, infamy, and crime,
whether they be trampling in the mud, or be clothed in purple and fine
linen, that is justice; but to give aid inconsiderately to well-merited
degradation, to prostitute and lavish charity and commiseration, by
bestowing help on unworthy and undeserving objects, is most infamous; it
is impiety,--very sacrilege! it is to doubt the existence of the
Almighty; and so, he who acts thus ought to be made to understand."
"My lord, I pray you do not think that I would for a moment assert that
you have bestowed your benefits unworthily."
"One word more, my old friend. You know well that the child whose death
I daily deplore--that that daughter whom I should have loved the more,
as her unworthy mother, Sarah, had shown herself so utterly indifferent
about her--would have been sixteen years of age, like this unhappy girl.
You know, too, that I cannot prevent the deep, and almost painful,
sympathy I feel for young girls of that age."
"True, my lord; and I ought so to have interpreted the interest you
evince for your protégée. Besides, to succour the unfortunate is to
honour God."
"It is, my friend, when the objects deserve it; and thus nothing is more
worthy of compassion and respect than a woman like Madame Georges, who,
brought up by a pious and good mother in the strict observance of all
her duties, has never failed,--never! and has, moreover, courageously
borne herself in the midst of the most severe trials. But is it not to
honour God in the most acceptable way, to raise from the dust one of
those beings of the finest mould, whom he has been pleased to endow
richly? Does not she deserve compassion and respect,--yes,
respect,--who, unhappy girl! abandoned to her own instinct,--who,
tortured, imprisoned, degraded, sullied, has yet preserved, in holiness
and pureness of heart, those noble germs of good first implanted by the
Almighty? If you had but seen, poor child! how, at the first word of
interest expressed for her,--the first mark of kindness and right
feeling,--the most charming natural impulses, the purest tastes, the
most refined thoughts, the most poetic ideas, developed themselves
abundantly in her ingenuous mind, even as, in the early spring, a
thousand wild flowers lift up their heads at the first rays of the sun!
In a conversation of about an hour with Fleur-de-Marie, I have
discovered treasures of goodness, worth, prudence,--yes, prudence, old
Murphy. A smile came to my lips, and a tear in my eye, when, in her
gentle and sensible prattle, she urged on me the necessity of saving
forty sous a day, that I might be beyond want or evil temptations. Poor
little creature! she said all this with so serious and persuasive a
tone. She seemed so delighted to give me good advice, and experienced so
extreme a pleasure in hearing me promise to follow it! I was moved even
to tears; and you,--it affects you, my old friend."
"It does, my lord; the idea of making you lay by forty sous a day,
thinking you a workman, instead of urging you to spend money on her;
that does touch me."
"Hush; here are Madame Georges and Marie. Get all ready for our
departure; we must be in Paris in good time."
Thanks to the care of Madame Georges, Fleur-de-Marie was no longer like
her former self. A pretty peasant's cap, and two thick braids of light
brown hair, encircled her charming face. A large handkerchief of white
muslin crossed her bosom, and disappeared under the high fold of a small
shot taffetas apron, whose blue and red shades appeared to advantage
over a dark nun's dress, which seemed expressly made for her. The young
girl's countenance was calm and composed. Certain feelings of delight
produce in the mind an unspeakable sadness,--a holy melancholy. Rodolph
was not surprised at the gravity of Fleur-de-Marie; he had expected it.
Had she been merry and talkative, she would not have retained so high a
place in his good opinion. In the serious and resigned countenance of
Madame Georges might easily be traced the indelible marks of
long-suffering; but she looked at Fleur-de-Marie with a tenderness and
compassion quite maternal, so much gentleness and sweetness did this
poor girl evince.
"Here is my child, who has come to thank you for your goodness, M.
Rodolph," said Madame Georges, presenting Goualeuse to Rodolph.
At the words, "my child," Goualeuse turned her large eyes slowly towards
her protectress, and contemplated her for some moments with a look of
unutterable gratitude.
"Thanks for Marie, my dear Madame Georges; she deserves this kind
interest, and always will deserve it."
"M. Rodolph," said Goualeuse, with a trembling voice, "you understand, I
know, I feel that you do, that I cannot find anything to say to you."
"Your emotion tells me all, my child."
"Oh, she feels deeply the good fortune that has come to her so
providentially," said Madame Georges, deeply affected; "her first
impulse on entering my room was to prostrate herself before my
crucifix."
"Because now, thanks to you, M. Rodolph, I dare to pray," said
Goualeuse.
Murphy turned away hastily; his pretensions to firmness would not allow
of any one seeing to what extent the simple words of Goualeuse had
touched him.
Rodolph said to her, "My child, I wish to have some conversation with
Madame Georges. My friend Murphy will lead you over the farm, and
introduce you to your future protégés. We will join you presently. Well,
Murphy, Murphy, don't you hear me?"
The worthy gentleman turned his back, and pretended to blow his nose
with a very loud noise, then put his handkerchief in his pocket, pulled
his hat over his eyes, and, turning half around, offered his arm to
Marie, managing so skilfully that neither Rodolph nor Madame Georges
could see his face. Taking the arm of Marie, he walked away with her
towards the farm buildings, and so quickly, that, to keep up with him,
Goualeuse was obliged to run, as in her infant days she ran beside the
Chouette.
"Well, Madame Georges, what do you think of Marie?" inquired Rodolph.
"M. Rodolph, I have told you: she had scarcely entered my room, when,
seeing the crucifix, she fell on her knees before it. It is impossible
for me to tell you, to describe the spontaneous and naturally religious
feeling that evidently dictated this. I saw in an instant that hers was
no degraded soul. And then, M. Rodolph, the expression of her gratitude
to you had nothing exaggerated in it; but it is not the less sincere.
And I have another proof of how natural and potent is this religious
instinct in her. I said to her, 'You must have been much astonished, and
very happy, when M. Rodolph told you that you were to remain here for
the future? What an effect it must have had on you!' 'Yes, oh, yes,' was
her reply; 'when M. Rodolph told me so, I cannot describe what passed
within me; but I felt that kind of holy happiness which I experience in
going into a church. When I could go there,' she added, 'for you know,
madame--' 'I know, my child, for I shall always call you my child (I
could not let her go on when I saw her cover her face for shame), I know
that you have suffered deeply; but God blesses those who love and fear
him, those who have been unhappy, and those who repent.'"
"Then, my good Madame Georges, I am doubly happy at what I have done.
This poor girl will greatly interest you, her disposition is so
excellent, her instincts so right."
"What has besides affected me, M. Rodolph, is that she has not allowed
one single question to escape her about you, although her curiosity
must be so much excited. Struck with a reserve so full of delicacy, I
wished to know what she felt. I said to her, 'You must be very curious
to know who your mysterious benefactor is?' 'Know him!' she replied,
with delightful simplicity; 'he is my benefactor.'"
"Then you will love her. Excellent woman! she will find some interest in
your heart."
"Yes, I shall occupy my heart with her as I should with _him_," said
Madame Georges, in a broken voice.
Rodolph took her hand.
"Do not be discouraged; come, come, if our search has been unsuccessful
so far, yet one day, perhaps--"
Madame Georges shook her head sorrowfully, and said, in bitter accents,
"My poor son would be now twenty years old!"
"Say he is that age--"
"God hear you, and grant it, M. Rodolph."
"He will hear, I fully believe. Yesterday I went (but in vain) to find a
certain fellow called Bras Rouge who might, perhaps, have given me some
information about your son. Coming away from this Bras Rouge's abode,
after a struggle in which I was engaged, I met with this unfortunate
girl--"
"Alas! but your kind endeavour in my behalf has thrown in your way
another unfortunate being, M. Rodolph."
"You have no intelligence from Rochefort?"
"None," said Madame Georges, shuddering, and in a low voice.
"So much the better! We can no longer doubt but that the monster met his
death in the attempt to escape from the--"
Rodolph hesitated to pronounce the horrible word.
"From the Bagne? Oh, say it!--the Bagne!" exclaimed the wretched woman
with horror, and almost frantic as she spoke. "The father of my child!
Ah! if the unhappy boy still lives--if, like me, he has not changed his
name--oh, shame! shame! And yet it may be nothing: his father has,
perhaps, carried out his horrid threat! What has he done with my boy?
Why did he tear him from me?"
"That mystery I cannot fathom," said Rodolph, with a pensive air. "What
could induce the wretch to carry off your son fifteen years ago, and
when he was trying to escape into a foreign land? A child of that age
could only embarrass his flight."
"Alas, M. Rodolph! when my husband" (the poor woman shuddered as she
pronounced the word) "was arrested on the frontier and thrown into
prison, where I was allowed to visit him, he said to me these horrible
words: 'I took away the brat because you were fond of him, and it will
be a means of compelling you to send me money, which may or may not be
of service to him,--that's my affair. Whether he lives or dies it is no
matter to you; but if he lives, he will be in good hands: you shall
drink as deep of the shame of the son as you have of the disgrace of the
father!' Alas! a month afterwards my husband was condemned to the
galleys for life; and since then all my entreaties, my prayers, and
letters have been in vain. I have never been able to learn the fate of
my boy. Ah, M. Rodolph! where is my child at this moment? These
frightful words are always ringing in my ears: 'You shall drink as deep
of the shame of the son as you have of the disgrace of the father!'"
"This atrocity is most inexplicable; why should he demoralise the
unhappy child? Why carry him off?"
"I have told you, M. Rodolph,--to compel me to send him money; although
he had nearly ruined me, yet I had still some small resources, but they
at length were exhausted also. In spite of his wickedness, I could not
believe but that he would employ, at least, a portion of this money in
the bringing-up of this unhappy child."
"And your son had no sign, no mark, by which he could be recognised?"
"No other than that of which I have spoken to you, M. Rodolph,--a small
Saint Esprit, sculptured in lapis lazuli, tied round his neck by a chain
of silver: a sacred relic, blessed by the holy father."
"Courage, courage; God is all-powerful."
"Providence placed me in your path, M. Rodolph."
"Too late, Madame Georges; too late. I might have saved you many years
of sorrow."
"Ah, M. Rodolph, how kind you have been to me!"
"In what way? I bought this farm; in time of your prosperity you were
not idle, and now you have become my manager here, where--thanks to your
excellent superintendence, intelligence, and activity--this
establishment produces me--"
"Produces you, my lord?" said Madame Georges, interrupting Rodolph;
"why, all the returns are employed, not only in ameliorating the
condition of the labourers, who consider the occupation on this model
farm as a great favour, but, moreover, to succour all the needy in the
district; through the mediation of our good Abbé Laporte--"
"Ah, the dear abbé!" said Rodolph, desirous of escaping the praise of
Madame Georges; "have you had the kindness to inform him of my arrival?
I wish to recommend my protégée to him. He has had my letter?"
"Mr. Murphy gave it to him when he came this morning."
"In that letter I told our good curé, in a few words, the history of
this poor girl. I was not sure that I should be able to come to-day
myself, and if not, then Murphy would have conducted Marie--"
A labourer of the farm interrupted this conversation, which had been
carried on in the garden.
"Madame, M. le Curé is waiting for you."
"Are the post-horses arrived, my lad?" inquired Rodolph.
"Yes, M. Rodolph; and they are putting to." And the man left the garden.
Madame Georges, the curé, and the inhabitants of the farm only knew
Fleur-de-Marie's protector as M. Rodolph. Murphy's discretion was
faultless; and although when in private he was very precise in
"my-lording" Rodolph, yet before strangers he was very careful not to
address him otherwise than as _M. Rodolph_.
"I forgot to mention, my dear Madame Georges," said Rodolph, when he
returned to the house, "that Marie has, I fear, very weak
lungs,--privations and misery have tried her health. This morning early
I was struck with the pallor of her countenance, although her cheeks
were of a deep rose colour; her eyes, too, seem to me to have a
brilliancy which betokens a feverish system. Great care must be taken of
her."
"Rely on me, M. Rodolph; but, thank God! there is nothing serious to
apprehend. At her age, in the country, with pure air, rest, and quiet,
she will soon be quite restored."
"I hope so; but I will not trust to your country doctors. I will desire
Murphy to bring here my medical man,--a negro,--a very skilful person,
who will tell you the best regimen to pursue. You must send me news of
Marie very often. Some time hence, when she shall be better, and more at
ease, we will talk about her future life; perhaps it would be best that
she always remained with you, if you were pleased with her."
"I should like it greatly, M. Rodolph; she would supply the place of the
child I have lost, and must for ever bewail."
"Let us still hope for you and for her."
At the moment when Rodolph and Madame Georges approached the farm,
Murphy and Marie also entered. The worthy gentleman let go the arm of
Goualeuse, and said to Rodolph in a low voice, and with an air of some
confusion:
"This girl has bewitched me; I really do not know which interests me
most, she or Madame Georges. I was a brute--a beast!"
"I knew, old Murphy, that you would do justice to my protégée," said
Rodolph, smiling, and shaking hands with the squire.
Madame Georges, leaning on Marie's arm, entered with her into a small
room on the ground floor, where the Abbé Laporte was waiting. Murphy
went away, to see all ready for their departure. Madame Georges, Marie,
Rodolph, and the curé remained together.
Plain, but very comfortable, this small apartment was fitted up with
green hangings, like the rest of the house, as had been exactly
described to Goualeuse by Rodolph. A thick carpet covered the floor, a
good fire burnt in the grate, and two large nosegays of daisies of all
colours, placed in two crystal vases, shed their agreeable odour
throughout the room. Through the windows, with their green blinds, which
were half opened, was to be seen the meadow, the little stream, and,
beyond it, the bank planted with chestnut-trees.
The Abbé Laporte, who was seated near the fireplace, was upwards of
eighty years of age, and had, ever since the last days of the
Revolution, done duty in this small parish. Nothing can be imagined more
venerable than his aged, withered, and somewhat melancholy countenance,
shaded by long white locks, which fell on the collar of his black
cassock, which was pieced in more places than one; the abbé liked
better, as they said, to clothe one or two poor children in good warm
broadcloth, than _faire le muguet_; that is, to wear his cassocks less
than two or three years. The good abbé was so old, so very old, that his
hands trembled continually, and when he occasionally lifted them up,
when speaking, it might have been supposed that he was giving a
benediction.
"M. l'Abbé," said Rodolph, respectfully, "Madame Georges has undertaken
the guardianship of this young girl, for whom I also beg your kindness."
"She is entitled to it, sir, like all who come to us. The mercy of God
is inexhaustible, my dear child, and he has evinced it in not abandoning
you in most severe trials. I know all." And he took the hand of Marie in
his own withered and trembling palms. "The generous man who has saved
you has realised the words of Holy Writ, 'The Lord is near to all those
who call upon him; he will fulfil the desire of those who fear him; he
will hear their cries, and he will save them.' Now deserve his bounty by
your conduct, and you will always find one ready to encourage and
sustain you in the good path on which you have entered. You will have in
Madame Georges a constant example, in me a careful adviser. The Lord
will finish his work."
"And I will pray to him for those who have had compassion on me and have
led me to him, father," said La Goualeuse, throwing herself on her knees
before the priest. Her emotion overcame her; her sobs almost choked her.
Madame Georges, Rodolph, and the abbé were all deeply affected.
"Rise, my dear child," said the curé; "you will soon deserve absolution
from those serious faults of which you have rather been the victim than
the criminal; for, in the words of the prophet, 'The Lord raises up all
those who are ready to fall, and elevates those who are oppressed.'"
Murphy, at this moment, opened the door.
"M. Rodolph," he said, "the horses are ready."
"Adieu, father! adieu, Madame Georges! I commend your child to your
care,--our child, I should say. Farewell, Marie; I will soon come and
see you again."
The venerable pastor, leaning on the arms of Madame Georges and La
Goualeuse, who supported his tottering steps, left the room to see
Rodolph depart.
The last rays of the sun shed their light on this interesting yet sad
group:
An old priest, the symbol of charity, pardon, and everlasting hope; a
female, overwhelmed by every grief that can distress a wife and mother;
a young girl, hardly out of her infancy, and but recently thrown into an
abyss of vice through misery and the close contact with crime.
Rodolph got into the carriage, Murphy took his place by his side, and
the horses set off at speed.