patient observation. And, if you ask me what interest I could have in
knowing such a woman, I will tell you frankly, that you see before you
one of her victims; for my dear Daniel, I have to confess it, I also
have been in love with her; and how! But I was too small a personage,
and too poor a devil, to be worth a serious thought of Miss Brandon.
As soon as she felt sure that her abominable tricks had set my head on
fire, and that I had become an idiot, a madman, a stupid fool--on that
very day she laughed in my face. Ah! I tell you, she played with me
as if I had been a child, and then she sent me off as if I had been a
lackey. And now I hate her mortally, as I loved her almost criminally.
Therefore, if I can help you, in secret, without becoming known, you may
count upon me."

Why should Daniel have doubted the truthfulness of his friend's
statements? Had he not himself, and quite voluntarily, confessed his
own folly, his own love, anticipating all questions, and making a clean
breast of the whole matter?

Not a doubt, therefore, arose in Daniel's mind. On the contrary, he
thanked God for having sent him such an ally, such a friend, who had
lived long enough amid all these intrigues of Parisian high life to know
all its secret springs, and to guide him safely. He took Maxime's hand
in his own, and said with deep feeling,--

"Now, my friend, we are bound to each other for life."

Brevan seemed deeply touched; he raised his hand as if to wipe a tear
from his eyes. But he was not a man to give way to tender feelings. He
said,--