happiest man on earth. And yet--alas, poor gentleman!--he was a prey to
the profoundest agony! He was, perhaps, about to suffer
_humiliation_,--a humiliation that would cut him to the very heart! But
there was a being in the world whom he loved better than his life or
honor,--his only child, his daughter! For her--how frequently had he
already sacrificed his pride, how frequently had he suffered the pangs
of martyrdom! Still, so great a slave was he to this passionate love
that every new endurance, every new trial, raised him in his own
estimation and exalted his pain into something that ennobled and
sanctified his very nature!

His heart beat violently as he entered deeper and deeper into the heart
of the city and approached the house he was about to visit. Soon after
he stopped at a door, and, as he pulled the bell, his hand trembled
violently in spite of extraordinary self-control; but as soon as a
servant answered the summons he became master of himself again.

"Is the notary in?" inquired the old gentleman. The servant replied
affirmatively, and, showing the visitor into a small room, went to
apprize his master.

As soon as Monsieur De Vlierbeck was alone, he put his right foot over
the left to hide the rent in his boot, drew forth the gold snuff-box,
and made ready to take a pinch.

The notary came in. He was a spare, business-looking man, and was
preparing to salute his guest graciously, but no sooner did he perceive
who it was than his face grew dark and assumed that reserved air with
which a cautious man arms himself when he expects a request which he is
predetermined to refuse. Instead, therefore, of lavishing on Monsieur De