Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

10
nd kindness. Her gentle sympathy softened what she
felt imi-i lie ;i painful tusk In the- orphan girl, who went through
il in a calm, deliberate manner, as a matter of duty, hut, e
he (-line upon pictures of her parents or her mother's own
work box, showed little care or emotion. She consulted a list
in her hand, drawn up by her father, and verified its accuracy.
When they returned to the drawing-room, she took Madame
ilc Vedelles' hand in hers, and said:
"My dear Countess, I am going to make rather a strange re-
You have always been so kind to me, coming to see me
a! the ^ ir, and to-day you have been so full of tender-
i 1 sympathy that I feel I may look upon you
THE NOTARY'S DAUGHTER.
as a friend.
Might I ask you to leave all these things with you? I don't
want to take them away; I should like them to be here to
remain here."
" We will keep them as long as you like for you, dear Denise.
I dare say it will be more convenient for you not to remove
them till you have a house of your own."
"
That is not what I mean. I should always like to think of
them as being here. I have some of my dear father's feeling
about this place. In my heart and thoughts it will be always sacred
to the memory of my parents. What they looked upon,
what they touched, what they used, had better be here than
elsewhere."
The young girl hid her face in her hands, and gave way to a
burst of tears. Madame de Vedelles gently stroked her hand,
and for a few minutes did not speak. Many rapid thoughts
1 though her mind.
"Why did she sell the place as she cares for it so much?
Does she now regret that she did so? What a strange idea to
want to leave all those souvenirs here! Dear me! I wonder!
Such things have, they say, happened as . Jacques is so
handsome, so pleasing. Has it occurred to her as a possibility?
delles felt surprised at the sudden change.
"
Will you do what I asked you?" Denise said.
"1 must speak to rny husband first; but I think I can answer
for him that he will agree to keep these things as long as ever you
u Mi them to
(hem."
stay here, and to send them to you whenever you
"
1 shall nrrcr claim them," Denise said in a tone of such de-
"ladams de Vedelles could only say:
"At any rale, they will always he at your disposal. By the
way, there is a box I must also show you."
"
she said, for at (Hat moment she saw her youngest
i the terrace, sitting on the parapet with his dog, and
watching his mother and Denise as they sat in the drawirg-
" George, go up to the lumber-room, and bring here a
i which you will see written, 'Mllle. de la Pinedc's toys.'"
eared, and brought back that very box which
r so i:i::nv years stood on the coach near which Madame
and Denise were sitting. lie laid it on the table, re-
lid, and took out of it the little sheep with their pink
. the wooden animals, the hunters and shepherdesses, and
: them before Denise, who took them in her hand, one by
d, then smiled, and said:
"
Yes; how well I remember them. They were the delight of
ildhood. I often asked my poor father for them. It was
- ittle beep I was so fond of. He used to buy me all the
vnnderful toys that could be found in Paris; but I never
ay jiii-t like these." After looking at them a little while.
d, "I suppose there are some poor little children in the
iod whom you could make happy, dear Countess, by
' them my dear old I.
ends, you will give to people the idea that you are a grown-up
" I don't care what people think," George said. "Mademoi-
selle, may I have these things?"
Deuisc laughed, and said, " Yes, if you can reconcile it to
your conscience to deprive the poor children of that boxful of
happiness."
" I will go to Toulon, and buy a cartload of toys for all the lit-
tle beggars round La Pinede, and then, 1 suppose, I may keep
this boxful of happiness?"
Those last words were said with a sort of emotion that did not
escape Denise's notice.
" What a strange youth that is," she thought.
Jacques reappeared just then, and, till the visitors departed,
devoted himself to Mdlle. de la Pinede, and flattered himself,
when she drove off, that she had found him very agreeable, lie
asked leave to call on her aunt when as was often the case he
was at Toulon. She answered civilly, and took an affectionate
leave of the Countess.
Madame de Vedelles told her husband of Denise's strange wish
to leave all her souvenirs m d family pictures at La Pinede, and
confided to him the idea that had passed through her mind.
"Well, my dear wife," the Count answered, "bring that
about if you can. Nothing would help on better Jacques' elec-
tion or his prospects in life than to marry this beautiful heiress;
so I give you full leave to promote this most desirable result.
But believe my experience. Hurry it on slowly. Girls with
beauty and fortune require to be carefully dealt with, and he
must make his way with her himself before we sound M. Legrand
on the subject. I suspect the young lady is like you, my dear
wife, devout and clerical;
more or less Voltairian
Jacques
"
bad fellow that he is, and
"Do not say that, my dear husband. It makes me so
miserable."
" If you succeed in marrying him to Mdlle. de la Pinede, she
a perfect thing it would be for both of them! She is going
lo stay some time at Toulon. How '
glad I should be."
"Forgive me for being so foolish," Denise said. "I do not
tears, an 1 now it is all over."
will convert him. I never saw a woman who gave me, at first
sight,
She raided her head, and there was a sweet and beautiful smile
on her face so full of peace and serenity, that Madame de Ve-
so much the idea of strength of character. Depend upon
it, she will influence all those she has to do with."
"Thank God for that. It will always be in a right direction,"
and the poor mother began to pray that' night for the success
of the scheme she had so fondly devised.
Before retiring to her room, she had ascertained from Jacques
that he thought Mdlle. de la Pinede wonderfully handsome, and
refrained, with difficulty, from hinting at her hopes. Before
she said :
wishing him good night,
"
I was so grieved at dear George's asking Denise to give him
her old playthings. It made me feel quite uncomfortable. I
am glad his father was not in the room."
CHAPTER V.
MISE MEDE.
LEAVING for awhile the de Vedelles occupied each with his or
her own private cogitations relative to the visit of the beautiful.
Denise, we shall follow M. Lescalle and his wife and daughter to
a country house called " Les Capucins," which belonged to an
aunt of his, wilh whom they were going to spent the rest of the
day.
This aunt was a maiden lady, who had been given the rather
affected name of Mesdcliccs, but in the familiar Provencal patois,
was called by everybody' Misc. that is Madame Mede.
Mdlle. Lescallc's youth had witnessed the stormy scenes of the
first revolution. When, under the empire, order was re-estab-
lished, and property resumed its rights, she found herself in possession
of a valuable little estate, and, though somewhat advanced
in a