"What! I must go! We must go, you mean. Do you think that I would
leave you here alone? I shall take you with me."

"To live in Paris; to leave the place where I was born, where your father
lived, where he died? I could never do it, my child, never! Go alone;
your life, your future, are there. I know you; I know that you will
never forget me, that you will come and see me often, very often."

"No, mother," he answered; "I shall stay here."

And he stayed.

His hopes, his ambitions, all in one moment vanished. He saw only one
thing--duty--the duty of not abandoning his aged mother. In duty, simply
accepted and simply discharged, he found happiness. After all, it is
only thus that one does find happiness.

Marcel bowed with courage and good grace to his new existence. He
continued his father's life, entering the groove at the very spot where
he had left it. He devoted himself without regret to the obscure career
of a country doctor. His father had left him a little land and a little
money; he lived in the most simple manner possible, and one half of his
life belonged to the poor, from whom he would never receive a penny.

This was his only luxury.

He found in his way a young girl, charming, penniless, and alone in the
world. He married her. This was in 1855, and the following year brought
to Dr. Reynaud a great sorrow and a great joy--the death of his old