would know--I thought you would guess. A child might guess. She told me
you had seen the locket--_Natalie to Natalushka_--was not that enough?"

"If Miss Lind herself did not guess that her mother was alive, how
should I?"

"If you have been brought up for sixteen or eighteen years to mourn one
as dead, you do not quickly imagine that he or she is not dead: you
perceive?"

"Well, it is extraordinary enough," said Brand, thoughtfully. "With such
a daughter, if she has the heart of a mother at all, how could she
remain away from her for sixteen years?"

A thought struck him, and his forehead colored quickly.

"There was no disgrace?"

At this word Calabressa started, and the small eyes flashed fire.

"I tell you, monsieur, that it is not in my presence that any one must
mention the word disgrace and also the name of Natalie Berezolyi. No; I
will answer--I myself--I will answer for the good name of Natalie
Berezolyi, by the bounty of Heaven!"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"You are ignorant--you made a mistake. And I--well, you perceive,
monsieur, that I am not ashamed to confess--I loved her; she was the
radiant light, the star of my life!"