and as he watched the changes he had foretold in Veronique's
appearance, he often said:--

"See the effects of childbirth on a woman! She adores that child; I
have often noticed that mothers are fondest of the children who cost
them most."

Veronique's faded eyes were all that retained even a memory of her
youth. The dark blue of the iris still cast its passionate fires, to
which the woman's life seemed to have retreated, deserting the cold,
impassible face, and glowing with an expression of devotion when the
welfare of a fellow-being was concerned.

Thus the surprise, the dread of the rector ceased by degrees as he
went on explaining to Madame Graslin all the good that a large owner
of property could do at Montegnac provided he lived there. Veronique's
beauty came back to her for a moment as her eyes glowed with the light
of an unhoped-for future.

"I will live there," she said. "It shall be my work. I will ask
Monsieur Graslin for money, and I will gladly share in your religious
enterprise. Montegnac shall be fertilized; we will find some means to
water those arid plains. Like Moses, you have struck a rock from which
the waters will gush."

The rector of Montegnac, when questioned by his friends in Limoges
about Madame Graslin, spoke of her as a saint.

The day after the purchase was concluded Monsieur Graslin sent an
architect to Montegnac. The banker intended to restore the chateau,